3T 


'A  'N  ' 
stftnpofnuoffl 

•DNI  "soya 


SKETCH  OF  EVENTS 


IFE  OF  GEOME  LAW 


PUBLISHED    IN   ADVANCE    OF   HIS   BIOGRAPHY. 


ALSO, 


•XTRACTS  FROM  THE  PUBLIC  JOURNALS 


NEW    YORK: 

.  0.  DERBY,  PUBLISHER,  119    NASSAU   ST. 

&STON  I    PHILLIPS,    SAMPSON     A    CO.       PHILADELPHIA  :    T.    B.    PETERSON. 
CINCINNATI :     H.    W.     DERBY.       CHARLESTON :     S.    G.    COURTNEY    &    CO. 

[BALTIMORE:    HENRY  TAYLOR.      SAVANNAH:  s.  s.  SIBLEY.     LOUIS- 

YILLE  :    MORTON    &    GRISWOLD.       NASHVILLE  :    W.  T.  BERRY    &    CO. 

MOBILE  :    STRICKLAND  &  CO.       PORTLAND  :    SANBORN  &  CARTER. 

RICHMOND  :    J.    W.     RANDOLPH.       RALEIGH  :    W.    L.    POMEROT. 

NEW    ORLEANS:    j.   c.   MORGAN.      BUFFALO:    WANZER, 
MCKIM  &  co.     CHICAGO:  D.  B.  COOKE  &  co.    DETROIT: 

'  KERR,   MORLEY   «fc   CO.         ST.  LOUIS:     EDWARDS   & 
BUSHNELL. 


1355. 


W.  H.  TWSON,  Printer  &  Stereotype!-,  24  Beekman  street,  N.  Y. 


SKETCH  OF  EVENTS 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  LAW, 


PUBLISHED    IN   ADVANCE    OF   HIS   BIOGRAPHY. 


ALSO, 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  PUBLIC  JOURNALS 


NEW    YORK: 
J.   0.    DERBY,   PUBLISHER,    119    NASSAU    ST 

1855. 


- 


PUBLISHER'S    NOTICE. 


THIS  short  sketch  of  events  in  the  Life  of  GEOKGE 
is  published  in  advance  of  a  volume  that  will  be  issued 
from  our  press. 

From  this  brief  memorandum  the  youth  of  our  country 
may  learn  what  has  been  done  by  a  farmer's  boy,  who, 
like  Franklin,  embarked  on  life  at  an  early  age,  without 
money  or  influential  friends,  and  relying  on  himself  alone. 
They  will  see  that  the  position  of  GEOKGE  LAW  has  not 
been  obtained  by  accidents  of  birth  or  fortune,  but  by 
industry  and  perseverance,  guided  by  cultivated  intelli 
gence.  That  temperance  and  integrity  have  marked 
every  step  in  his  path,  and  that  although  devoted  to 
physical  labor,  he  still  found  time  for  improving  his 
mind  by  study,  and  leisure  to  gratify  the  kind  impulses 
of  his  heart  by  acts  of  benevolence. 

The  rise  of  a  man  to  such  fortune  and  honor  in  his 
own  country,  among  the  most  enlightened,  enterprising 
and  intelligent  business  community  in  the  world,  is  cal 
culated  to  excite  wonder  and  astonishment.  Authentic 
autobiography  serves  to  dispel  those  misapprehensions  so 
likely  to  exist,  in  reference  to  the  career  of  any  citizen 
who,  like  George  Law,  from  humble  means — unaided  by 
influential  family  or  political  connexions,  without  the 
dazzling  recommendation  of  military  rank  or  services, 
and  never  having  held  political  office,  should  have  risen 
to  the  distinction  he  has  acquired  at  home  and  abroad. 


TO      THE      PUBLIC 

• 

The  name  of  GEORGE  LAW  is  familiar  to  the  people 
of  our  country.-  His  characteristics  are  but  partially 
known,  and  by  many  are  misunderstood.  Some  regard 
him  as  a  lucky  man,  seeking  fortune  and  finding  it; 
while  others  suppose  him  to  be  a  speculator,  fond  of 
reckless  adventures,  and  willing  to  follow  any  path 
that  may  lead  to  fortune  or  notoriety.  But  there  are 
thousands  who  have  been  near  the  scenes  of  his  labors, 
that  appreciate  him  for  what  he  is.  They  know  him  to 
be  a  self-made  man — strong  and  fertile  in  intellect,  as  he 
is  stalwart  in  person — quick  and  practical  in  thought,  as 
he  is  accurate  and  inflexible  in  judgment.  A  man 
whose  sense  of  justice  and  right  is  as  indomitable  as  his 
will — whose  mind  is  well  stored  with  useful  learning — 
who  will  listen  to  counsel,  but  never  yields  his  convic 
tions  of  duty  to  the  mere  opinions  of  others,  and  whose 
life  is  full  of  incidents. 

GEORGE  LAW'S  character  presents  the  most  favorable 
type  of  the  youth  of  America — all  his  characteristics 
are  Utilitarian — he  is  eminently  practical,  intellectual, 
systematic  and  bold — a  man  of  deeds  and  a  man  of 
ideas ;  with  a  full  knowledge  of  all  the  privations  of  a 
poor  man's  life,  he  sympathetically  feels  the  necessity  of 
extending  a  helping  hand  to  those  who  are  struggling  up 
the  hill  of  fortune  and  fame.  The  Biography  of  such  a 
man  will  excite  interest  and  afford  instruction.  In  this 
short  sketch  we  wish  to  attract  public  attention  to  some 
points  of  hia  character,  and  shall  leave  other  topics  for 
*W  forthcoming  rolume. 


INTRODUCTION. 


GEORGE  LAW  is  an  intelligent  AMERICAN,  and  has  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  institutions  and  interests  of  his  country.  From 
the  time  he  was  old  enough,  he  was  allowed  to  go  to  school  in 
the  winter,  when  the  labors  of  the  farm  did  not  require  his 
attention.  In  this  way,  he  obtained  the  usual  information 
acquired  by  farmers'  boys.  His  mind  eagerly  sought  instruction, 
and  grasped  all  the  subjects  presented  to  it. 

At  an  early  age,  he  felt  the  necessity  of  acquiring  more 
information  than  he  could  gain  at  his  winter  school,  and  hence 
embraced  every  opportunity  to  add  to  the  number  of  his  books. 

When  he  left  home,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  felt  the  want 
of  a  trade,  and  a  proper  education  to  enable  him  to  undertake 
business  for  himself.  Accordingly,  we  find  him  working  as  a 
common  laborer,  for  daily  wages,  with  the  intention  of  obtain 
ing,  through  that  means,  the  knowledge  of  a  trade. 

While  thus  employed,  he  devoted  every  leisure  hour  to  read 
ing  and  study.     All  the  money  he  could  spare  from  his  sup 
port    he   applied   to   the  purchase  of    books  ;    and    the   time 
too  often  spent  by  young  men,  at  his  age,  in  frivolous  amuse 
ments,  was  employed  by  him  in  study.     Thus  he  became  taci- 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

turn,  and  has  sinco  been  more  of  a  thinker  than  talker.  He 
was  careful  to  select  books  that  would  impart  to  him  useful 
knowledge  upon  mathematics  and  mechanics  generally.  He 
became  a  good  engineer,  and  an  accomplished  and  edu 
cated  mechanic.  By  combining  thorough  study  with  the  prac 
tical  knowledge  of  every  branch  of  business,  his  information 
became  greatly  enlarged  and  strengthened.  Experience  taught 
him  that  knowledge  is  power  ;  and  he  adopted  a  salutary  rule, 
to  which  he  has  steadily  and  profitably  adhered,  of  reading 
for  two  or  three  hours  every  night,  before  retiring  to 
rest.  This  rule  has  enabled  him  to  master  the  contents  of 
hundreds  of  volumes  of  the  best  selected  works,  notwithstand 
ing  the  trying  business  scenes  that  he  has  passed  through. 
All  who  know  George  Law  personally,  concede  that  on  subjects 
relating  to  the  Mechanic  Arts,  to  practical  science,  and  to 
government,  he  is  a  well-read  man. 

There  is  no  subject  within  the  range  of  social  conversation 
that  is  not  familiar  to  his  mind  ;  and,  by  his  acquaint 
ances,  his  opinions  on  the  practical  sciences  are  esteemed  of 

erreat  value. 
0 

He  is  a  man  of  great  intellectual  ability  and  originality  of 

thought.  The  education  and  practical  experience  to  which  he 
has  been  subjected  have  developed  in  him  the  peculiar  charac 
teristics  that  have,  at  different  periods,  distinguished  many 
individuals  who  have  commanded  armies  and  navies,  who 
have  controlled  the  actions  of  men,  who  have  overthrown 
despots,  and  founded  liberal  governments.  These  intuitive 

.7  •        ;'(    fcSTOfq/JJ'.)    *)]W   fitSftat 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

perceptions  and  combinations,  manifested  in  a  prominent  and 
attractive  manner,  in  distinguished  men,  have  been  the  wonder 
and  admiration  of  mankind. 

*  '    .  L»  A         .EiiOIJ 

The  power  of  rapid  mathematical  combination  is  the  great 
element  that  has  distinguished  all  the  great  military  men  of  his 
tory.  This  made  the  fame  of  Alexander,  Caesar,  Napoleon,  Crom 
well  and  Wellington,  and  of  our  own  Washington  and  Jackson. 

As  this  intellectual  power  manifested  itself  in.  George 
Law,  he  enlarged  the  sphere  of  his  operations,  until  their 
extent  and  apparent  complication  was  beyond  the  grasp  of 
the  minds  of  his  cotemporaries,  and  they  expressed  doubts 
of  the  soundness  of  his  plans  and  the  safety  of  his  busi 
ness.  They  could  not  see  or  feel  the  principles  that  lay  at 
the  foundations  of  his  arrangements,  and  were  not  able  to 
understand  the  combinations  which  rendered  all  his  movements 
a  matter  of  mathematical  certainty.  Results  however,  finally 
established  the  correctness  of  his  estimates,  and  the  wisdom  of 
his  measures.  Each  business  transaction  was  closed  successfully 
for  himself,  and  advantageous  to  his  country. 

His  great  and  remarkable  knowledge  of  men,  their  motives 
and  fitness  for  place,  is  a  striking  characteristic.  He  selected 
men  best  fitted  for  the  places  he  designed  them  for,  with  uner 
ring  certainty ;  and  it  is  said,  that,  of  the  thousands  of  appoint 
ments  made  by  him,  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  deceived 
himself,  or  was  deceived  by  others,  in  making  his  selections. 
He  was  inflexible  in  his  rule,  to  "  select  men  for  places,  and  not 
make  places  for  men." 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

This  perfection  of  system  and  sure  judgment  in  the  selection 
of  business  agents,  made  him  absolute  master  of  all  his  opera 
tions.  These  peculiar  faculties  enabled  him  to  conduct  his 
business,  which  involved  millions  of  money,  whilst  he  was  travel 
ling  in  Europe  for  health  and  information. 

His  affairs,  during  the  many  months  that  he  was  absent, 
suffered  no  injury,  and,  although  embracing  many  distinct  con 
tracts,  were  conducted  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  himself  and 

.     oj     ,T.7JiJ 

others  interested  with  him. 

So  easy  is  it  for  his  well-trained  and  capacious  mind  to  plan 
and  execute  the  most  complicated  matters,  that  he  never 
neglects  an  appointment ;  and  he  has  been  heard  to  say  that 
his  affairs  have  never  hurried  him,  but  that  he  has  leisure 
at  all  times  to  attend  to  the  calls  of  his  friends  and  his  family, 
as  well  as  his  business. 

George  Law  is  not  an  avaricious  man,  there  is  nothing  sordid 
o*r  mercenary  about  fiim. 

We  say  this,  because  the  passion  of  avarice  generally  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  large  fortunes. 

His  experience  in  early  manhood  convinced  him  that  the 
desires  of  men  depend  more  upon  imagination  than  reality,  and 
he  followed  the  maxims  of  Franklin,  in  restraining  his  appetites 
by  a  habit  of  self-denial.  Hence  it  was  the  natural  result 
of  this  self-education,  when,  at  the  age  of.  twenty-eight,  years 
Ms  skill  and  industry  had  secured  him  the  possession  of 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  that  he  felt  inclined  to  retire  from 'busi 
ness,  satisfied  that  his  fortune  was  ample  for  himself  and  family 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

He  had  been  employed,  as  is  stated  in  the  annexed  sketch,  in 
different  capacities  upon  some  of  the  most  important  works  of 
public  improvement  (canals,  railroads,  &c.),  in  the  States  of 
ISFew  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  North 
Carolina  ;  and,  by  dint  of  hard  work  and  frugality,  not  by  spe 
culation,  had  acquired  his  property. 

At  this  period  of  his  life,  there  was  little  in  wealth  beyond 
competency  that  had  attractions  for  him,  and  he  would  have  with 
drawn  from  business  pursuits,  if  he  could  have  secured  for  himself 
happiness  in  a  life  of  idleness.  This  he  found  impossible  ;  his  mind 
had  become  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  great  principles  of  the 
mechanic  arts,  and  he  had  entered  so  deeply  into  the  spirit  of 
the  progressive  age,  in  which  he  had  been  educated,  that  he  felt 
his  longing  for  active  pursuits  irresistible. 

From  this  period  his  career  is  marked  by  no  events  or  acts 
that  can  justify  a  belief  that  he  sought  the  acquisition  of 
great  wealth  for  itself  alone.  He  devoted  all  the  powers 
of  his  mind  to  projecting  and  constructing  works  of  high 
public  importance,  and  when  offered  a  contract  of  great  pecu 
niary  profit,  he  declined  to  enter  upon  it,  because  it  was  not  in 
his  estimation,  of  sufficient  public  utility  to  justify  the  outlay 

Our  great  Croton  Aqueduct  and  High  Bridge  were  works 
worthy  of  his  patriotic  feelings  and  his  genius,  and  they 
now  stand  enduring  monuments  of  his  fame.  Whilst  engaged 
in  building  the  High  Bridge,  he  resuscitated,  systematized,  and 
completed  two  works  of  internal  improvement,  that,  but  for 

1* 

V"  '          '  t 

\ 


10  xIKTRODUCTION. 

him,  would  have  brought  ruin  upon  the  stockholders,  and  great 
inconvenience  to  the  public. 

We  next  find  him  employed  in  establishing  steam  communica 
tion  between  the  Atlanticocean  and  the  newly-acquired  possess- 
sions  of  the  United  States  on  the  Pacific. 

The  acquisition  of  wealth  was  not  his  chief  stimulant  in  this 
undertaking.  He  was  actuated  by  the  patriotic  motive  of  bene- 
fitting  his  country,  as  well  as  by  the  laudable  ambition  of  iden 
tifying  his  name  with  one  of  the  greatest  enterprises  of  the  age. 
There  was  no  other  man  in  our  Confederacy  who  had  the  capa 
city  to  comprehend,  and  the  capital  to  accomplish  so  great  and 
glorious  a  work. 

Any  careful  observer  could  understand,  that  unless  these  e:reat 
channels  of  commerce  with  California,  were  occupied  by  Ameri 
can  citizens  and  American  capital  without  delay,  they  would 
pass  into  the  hands  of  foreign  capitalists,  and  thus  render  all  our 
trade  with  California  and  the  Pacific  ocean  tributary  to  the  Bri 
tish,  who  had  already  monopolised  the  trade  of  Mexico  and  of 
South  America.  ., 

This  result  was  early  seen  and  clearly  comprehended  by  the 
penetrating  and  patriotic  mind  of  George  Law  ;  and  although 
it  was  apparent  to  him  that  this  undertaking  was  of  sufficient 
magnitude  and  importance  to  employ  the  capital  and  credit  of 
the  nation,  and  might  result  in  the  ruin  of  an  individual, 
yet,  perceiving  that  the  advantages  of  this  commerce  would 
be  lost  to  his  country  if  not  promptly  secured,  and  rely 
ing  upon  his  own  judgment,  energy,  and  executive  power, 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

combined  with  large  capital  and  unlimited  credit,  his  patriotic 
feelings  impelled  him  to  enter  upon  the  undertaking. 

How  well  he  performed  his  part,  the  world  is  now  informed. 
His  genius  and  capital  have  united  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
oceans  ;  have  joined  San  Francisco  to  New  York  by  a  continu 
ous  line  of  steam  communication  ;  have  opened  up  the  whole 
Pacific  ocean  to  the  business  of  our  merchants,  and  have  de 
creased  the  distance  to  China  and  Japan  several  thousand  miles. 

This  great  work  is  now  completed.  The  name  of  George 
Law  is  identified  with  it,  and  he  will  be  remembered  as  the 
great  pioneer  of  the  commerce  that  will  continue  to  flow  across 
this  continent. 

The  profits  of  this  gigantic  enterprise  to  him  were  immense. 
They  were  the  results  of  his  far-reaching  sagacity,  and  his  clear 
comprehension  of  the  consequences  of  certain  business  arrange- 
ements  ;  and  all  but  the  envious  and  selfish  will  rejoice  that  his 
laudable  efforts  to  do  good  were  thus  rewarded.  But,  as 
before  stated,  the  desire  of  accumulating  great  wealth  was  not 
the  chief  incentive  to  this  work  ;  and  the  profits  so  realized, 
were  considered  by  him  as  a  means  only  of  accomplishing  other 
important  public  objects. 

The  same  feelings  and  the  same  motives  that  prompted  him  to 
establish  communications  with  California,  caused  him  to  risk  his 
fortune  to  maintain  the  rights  of  a  private  citizen  in  his  service  on 
board  his  steamer.  He  knew  that  the  character  of  our  country, 
as  well  as  the  rights  of  a  countryman  were  involved  in  thin 
transaction.  This  induced  George  Law  to  set  at  defiance 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

the  threats  of  the  Captain-General  of  Cuba,  that  he  would  sink 
the  steamer,  and  to  denounce  the  pusillanimous  administration 
of  our  Federal  Government,  who  sought  to  use  him  as  an  instru 
ment  to  injure  a  private  citizen,  and  disgrace  itself. 

And,  finally,  we  will  add  in  support  of  the  opinion  we  have 
expressed  upon  this  point,  that,  although  he  was  in  possession 
of  large  sums  of  money,  he  has  never  been  known  to  trade  in, 
or  lend  it  for  more  than  legal  interest.  This  fact  is  mentioned, 
because  it  has  been  imputed  as  a  common  vice  of  capitalists, 
that  they  are  ready  and  willing  to  receive  usurious  rates  of 
interest,  as  a  means  of  accumulation,  from  those  whose  necessi 
ties  compel  them  to  borrow. 

We  make  this  remark,  because  the  lending  of  money  upon 
usury  is  generally  regarded  as  an  evidence  of  an  avaricious 
propensity,  and  that  the  practice  of  it  tends  to  destroy  the 
finer  feelings  of  charity  and  benevolence,  which  have  adorned 
the  character  and  rendered  illustrious  the  venerated  names  of 
heroes,  sages,  and  patriots. 

George  Law  is  not  only  not  avaricious,  but  he  is  kind,  gene 
rous,  philanthropic,  and  liberal.  We  are  in  possession  of  facts 
which  fully  justify  this  remark.  The  incidents  to  which  we 
refer  may  be  stated  in  the  forthcoming  biography,  if  we  obtain 
his  consent,  and  that  of  the  recipients  of  his  kindness  ;  but  acts 
of  this  description,  when  proceeding  from  proper  motives,  seek 
concealment,  and  any  direct  allusions  to  them  are  unpleasant  and 
offensive  to  the  donor. 

George  Law  is  a  patriotic  man  of  enlarged  and  comprehensive 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

views.  This  is  manifested  by  the  character  of  the  business  that 
has  occupied  his  attention  from  the  commencement  of  his  career, 
He  is  a  lover  of  good  government  and  social  order,  and  has 
manifested  a  disposition  to  enforce  the  laws  upon  all  occa 
sions.  The  recent  reclamation  of  the  fugitive  Baker  through 
the  use  of  his  yacht,  the  Grapeshot,  is  a  striking  evidence  of  this 
trait  of  his  character. 

We  have  published  with  these  papers,  an  editorial  from  a 
!N~ew  York  journal  upon  this  subject.  The  part  taken  by  George 
Law  in  this  matter,  was  the  result  of  a  thorough  conviction 
that  the  Mayor  had  no  authority  to  appropriate  funds  for  this 
purpose.  Prompt  action,  under  the  circumstances,  was  indis 
pensable,  and  there  was  reason  to  believe  that  the  Government 
had  no  vessel  of  sailing  or  steaming  capacity  that  could  be  got 
ready  and  dispatched  in  time  to  overtake  the  brig  in  which 
Baker  was  supposed  to  have  sailed. 

It  was  therefore  evident  to  his  mind,  that  the  ends  of  public 
justice  would  be  defeated,  unless  he  did,  at  his  own  expense, 
send  out  his  vessel  to  reclaim  the  fugitive.  He  caused  his  yacht 
to  be  rigged,  provisioned,  manned  and  anchored  in  the  bay, 
ready  to  receive  the  police  officers  on  board,  within  twenty 
hours  from  the  time  he  engaged  to  send  her  to  sea.  He  selected 
a  captain  and  crew  that  could  be  trusted  to  overtake  and  bring 
back  Baker,  and  paid  them  additional  or  extra  wages.  The 
result  of  this  energetic  action  was  the  return  of  the  Grapeshot 
with  Baker  on  board,  in  less  time  than  the  public  expected. 
The  act  delighted  the  whole  country,  and  led  many  to  make 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

comparisons  between  the  energy  of  a  private  citizen,  and  the 
dilatory  conduct  -of  the  administration. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  see  and  feel  the  want  of 
efficiency  in  the  naval  power  of  the  country,  and  believe  that 
with  less  annual  expenditure,  we  might  have  a  marine  force 
in  steam  vessels  of  war,  that  would  protect  our  commerce, 
and  command  the  respect  of  all  the  great  Powers  of  the  earth. 
There  is  no  man  more  competent  to  express  a  correct  opinion  upon 
this  subject  than  George  Law,  or  more  able  to  carry  into  effect 
his  own  suggestions.  Under  his  charge,  a  naval  force  would 
spring  into  existence  that  would  become  the  pride  of  our  gallant 
seamen  and  the  admiration  of  our  country.  Under  his  direc 
tion,  ships  would  not  be  so  constructed  that  they  would  founder 
at  sea,  or  be  compelled  to  abandon  a  voyage  from  stress  of 
weather. 

The  steamers  built,  by  George  Law  were  constructed  of  the 
best  materials.  Live  Oak  was  universally  preferred — because 
his  object  was  to  build  vessels  strong  and  safe,  and  to  rely  upon 
them,  and  not  upon  insurance  ;  and,  as  a  striking  instance 
of  the  wisdom  of  his  course,  the  fact  should  be  noted,  that  he  never 
lost  a  vessel  at  sea.  He  thought  good  vessels,  well  manned, 
were  better  for  the  people,  who  entrusted  their  lives  and 
property  to  them,  than  poor  vessels,  illy  supplied,  though  largely 
and  carefully  insured. 

This  care  in  building  ships  of  the  best  material,  and  in  the 
best  manner,  has  given  him  among  mechanics,  the  sobriquet  of 
"Livo  Oak."  A  man  so  careful  of  the  lives  and  property  of 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

others  under  his  charge,  whilst  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits, 
will  be  very  likely  to  see  that  Government  vessels  are  built 
with  like  care  when  the  navy  shall  be  under  his  command. 

From  what  we  have  already  stated,  and  from  the  papers 
printed  with  this  prospectus,  it  must  be  clear  to  every  person 
who  will  take  the  trouble  to  read  this  pamphlet,  that  George 
Law  is  well  informed  upon  the  Constitution,  laws  and  usages 
of  our  government,  and  that  he  is  eminently  qualified  to  dis 
charge  the  duties  of  President  of  the  United  States. 

His  thorough  practical  education,  great  capacity  of  mind, 
demonstrated  by  his  success  in  the  extensive  business  he  has 
conducted,  and  illustrated  by  the  patriotic  motives  that  have 
controlled  him,  go  far  to  show  that  his  qualifications  for  the 
office  of  Chief  Magistrate  of  this  Union,  will  compare  favor 
ably  with  any  that  have  heretofore  been  brought  to  the  Execu 
tive  chair. 

We  present  herewith  the  proceedings  of  a  complimentary 
dinner  given  to  him  several  years  since  at  the  Astor  House  in 
New  York  ;  also  a  letter  written  by  him  in  answer  to  a  request 
of  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  to  allow  them  to  use  his 
name  in  the  next  canvass  for  President  of  the  United  States. 

His  speech  on  the  first  occasion,  and  his  letter  on  the  last, 
will  satisfy  any  person  that  he  is  a  man  well  acquainted  with 
every  subject  of  importance  connected  with  the  resources  and 
purposes  of  our  Government. 

The  duties  devolved  by  the  Constitution  upon  the  several 
Departments  of  Government  have  been  so  long  defined  and 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

understood,  as  taught  by  the  fathers  of  the  Republic,  that  it  is 
not  difficult  for  any  one  to  comprehend  them.  Many  persons 
believe  that  the  administration  of  Governmental  affairs, 
is  something  mysterious,  intricate  and  difficult  to  understand  ; 
but  to  a  well-informed  mind  that  has  practical  knowledge 
on  the  subject,  nothing  can  be  discovered  that  differs  materially 
from  the  general  business  transactions  of  private  life  between 
intelligent  men.  Indeed,  whenever  a  difference  is  found,  it 
would  be  well  that  it  should  be  brought  back  to  the  plain  rules 
of  ordinary  life. 

The  practical  character  of  our  institutions,  based  as  they  are 
upon  the  Sovereignty  of  the  People,  will  not  allow  the  adminis 
tration  of  the  government  to  be  so  involved  in  mystery  as  to 
render  the  execution  of  any  of  its  trusts,  or  the  discharge  of  any 
duties  under  it,  a  task  to  be  performed  only  by  persons 
trained,  and  educated  for  that  purpose.  In  monarchies, 
forms  and  ceremonies  are  encouraged,  and  holding  office 
by  hereditary  right,  has  followed,  till  discomfiture  and 
disgrace  have  demanded  their  abolition.  Mystery  and  intri- 
casy  are  hostile  to  the  genius  of  our  institutions,  and  to  the 
principle  that  man  is  capable  of  .self-government.  We  do 
not  think  that  the  establishment  of  an  aristocracy,  whether  lorn 
or  educated  to  office,  would  be  consistent  with  the  principles  of 
equality  on  which  the  institutions  of  this  country  are  founded,  or 
agreeable  to  the  feelings  of  our  People.  Whilst  the  Press  is 
free — whilst  freedom  of  discussion  exists,  and  so  long  as 
frequent  elections  enable  the  People  to  cancel  the  errors  of  their 


I  X  T  R  O  D  U  C  T  I  O  S  . 


servants,  the  best  schoolmasters  for  statesmen,  are  the 
People,  especially  as  the  lessons  they  teach  are  generally 
remembered.  Professional  place-seekers,  office-holders,  and 
family  influences  are  the  bane  of  good  governments.  These 
precedents  of  the  monarchies  of  the  old  world  sustaining 
such  classes,  should  not  be  encouraged  here.  The  simple  form 
of  our  government  enables  men  of  plain  education  to  fill  many 
departments  in  a  creditable  manner,  and  some  of  our  best 
officers  have  been  more  distinguished  for  plain,  practical  sense, 
than  for  attainments  in  belles-lettres. 

This  principle  has  been  so  long  recognized  in  our  legisla 
tive  departments,  that  it  would  be  superfluous  to  refer  to  it. 
The  general  diffusion  of  education,  the  quick  and  clear  percep 
tive  faculties  of  our  people,  and  the  great  and  varied  business 
occupations  which  employ  them  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  our  country,  qualify  them  for  the  enactment  and 
administration  of  all  laws  necessary  for  the  protection  and  secu 
rity  of  life  and  property,  and  the  enjoyment  of  happiness.  The 
same  rule  has  always  applied  to  Executive  Officers.  The  position 
and  character  of  many  of  the  greatest  and  most  illustrious  of 
our  public  men  justify  the  remarks  we  have  made.  There  was 
no  particular  education  that  fitted  Washington  for  the  post  ho 
occupied.  He  was  a  county  surveyor.  It  was  not  scientific 
training  that  produced  our  Franklin.  He  was  a  printer.  It  was 
not  a  collegiate  education,  nor  was  it  any  superior  attainments  in 
fashionable  literature,  that  qualified  our  Jackson  for  the  high 
position  he  occupied  in  our  country.  Poetry  and  the  fine  arts 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

occupied  less  of  their  time  than  more  utilitarian  studies. 
These  men  were  more  practical  than  scientific  or  scholastic. 
They  drew  inspiration  from  the  scenes  around  them,  and  the 
high  character  of  their  minds  enabled  them  to  work  out  a 
brilliant  career  for  the  benefit  of  their  country.  In  legal  lore 
— in  the  wiles  of  diplomacy,  and  the  arts  and  intrigues  of  the 
politician  and  the  professional  courtier  and  place-seeker,  they  did 
not  pretend  to  excel.  Their  judgments  were  controlled  by  the 
dictates  of  practical  good  sense,  and  devotion  to  the  interests 
and  honor  of  their  country.  In  their  early  manhood  they  gave 
practical  examples  of  their  ability  to  direct  great  and  varied 
business  affairs,  embracing  the  interests  of  individuals  and  nations, 
The  call  of  the  American  People  upon  George  Law  is,  because 
he  has  exhibited  the  same  qualities,  and  it  is  the  natural  result 
of  the  character  of  our  people  and  the  form  of  our  Government. 
If  he  had  held  a  cabinet  office,  occupied  a  seat  in  either  House 
of  Congress — been  the  Governor  of  a  State,  or  been  a  general 
in  the  Army — little  surprise  would  have  been  excited  among 
political  men..  The  people  have  a  right  to  the  services  of 
every  citizen  ;  jwid  if  they  can  find  in  the  private  walks  of  life, 
a  man  who  has  shown  the  proper  characteristics,  who  shall 
dispute  their  right  to  elect  him  ?  We  deny  that  any  class  of 
men  have  special  "  claims  "  to  the  Presidency.  That  high  post  is 
the  free  gift  of  the  American  People,  bestowed  upon  their  choice; 
and  for  any  citizen  to  arrogate  to  himself  superior  pretensions  to 
it  over  any  other,  is  presumptuous,  and  of  itself  evidence  of  the 
unfitness  of  the  claimant.  But,  the  selection  of  a  private  citi- 


INTRODUCTION.  19 


•J      J 


zen,  fresh  from  the  People,  and  independent  of  political  intrigues 
and  arrangements,  is  regarded  by  placemen  and  professional 
politicians,  as  a  spectacle  calculated  to  excite  wonder.  They 
stared  and  ejaculated  in  like  manner  when  Jackson  was  first 
announced  by  the  People,  in  defiance  of  their  intrigues  to 
perpetuate  their  own  power. 

In  placing  George  Law  in  the  Presidential  chair,  it  is  but 
transferring  him  to  a  larger  field  of  action.  He  has  proved  him 
self  capable  in  the  ''post  of  honor,"  sometimes  "  the  private 
station/7  and,  as  a  citizen,  in  a  sphere  of  business,  equal,  in  its 
demand  for  sound  judgment  and  administrative  talents,  to  the 
highest  executive  position  in  the  country.  He  has  regulated 
with  eminent  success  the  great  and  varied  interests  under  his 
control.  He  has  had  the  management  of  more  steamships  than 
have,  at  any  time,  belonged  to  the  United  States  ;  surpassing 
the  government  in  the  speed  of  his  vessels,  the  efficiency  of  their 
equipments  and  the  economy  of  their  expenses.  He  has  dis 
played  great  practical  knowledge  as  to  the  duties  of  the  station, 
and  we  ask,  therefore,  why  should  not  George  Law  be  trans 
ferred  and  promoted  by  the  People  to  this  great  Executive 

Trust  ? 

In  what  way  can  his  great  talents,  his  thorough,  knowledge 
of  men,  his  ability  to  wield  the  resources  of  the  nation,  and 
his  professional  information  on  all  subjects  connected  with  the 
great  interests  of  the  people,  be  so  usefully  applied  for  the 
benefit  of  our  Country  ? 
Is  there  auy  citizen  within  the  bonndaries  of  the  Confede- 


20 


I  N  T  RODUCTION. 


racy  who  caii  present  so  interesting  a  record  of  his  life,  as  an 
example  to  the  Youth  of  our  Country,  and  as  a  guarantee  to 
us  that  he  will  discharge  faithfully,  and  with  ability,  the  duties 
we  may  impose  upon  him  ? 

George  Law  does  not  aspire  to  the  Presidency  j  his  friends 
do  not  seek  to  place  him  there  from  any  mean  or  mercenary 
motive.  No  desire  to  possess  or  exercise  power  for  personal  or 
ignoble  purposes  moves  him  or  them.  He  is  prompted  by 
patriotism  and  a  noble  ambition  to  apply  the  great  resources  and 
experience  of  his  own  mind  to  promote  the  glory  and  pros 
perity  of  his  country,  and  to  transmit  an  example  to  posterity 
worthy  of  imitation. 

George  Law  is  a  man  of  progress.  All  the  efforts  of  his 
mind  have  been  directed  to  making  improvements  in  the  arts 
and  sciences,  and  applying  them  to  the  practical  affairs  of  life. 
For  this  end  he  travelled  through  Europe,  made  experiments  in 
machinery,  studied  mathematics  and  engineering,  and  learned 
the  uses  of  steam,  electricity,  and  other  powers  in  the  mechanic 
arts.  The  result  is,  that  he  possesses  a  fund  of  information  on 
these  subjects,  which  he  readily  imparts  to  any  one  who  seeks 
information  from  him. 

It  cannot  have  escaped  notice,  that  most  of  the  profes 
sional  politicians  and  office-holders  of  our  country,  are  behind 
the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  the  genius  of  the  American  People. 
This  should  be  remedied,  and  can  only  be  done  by  placing  the 
control  of  our  affairs  in  the  hands  of  more  efficient  agents. 
George  Law  will  bring  the  executive  branch  of  the  government 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

up  to  his  own  standard.  He  will  require  every  man  to  do  his 
duty,  and  will  enforce  the  same  system  of  economy  in  public 
affairs,  that  he  has  heretofore  exercised  in  his  own  transactions. 

George  Law  regards  a  strict  observance  of  the  laws  and 
treaties  of  the  country  as  essential  to  its  good  character  and 
permanent  success.  In  all  his  career,  there  is  no  incident  or 
event  that  will  lead  a  careful  observer  to  any  other  conclusion. 
He  is  essentially  and  eminently  a  law-abiding  man.  We  say 
this  here,  as  misrepresentations  have  been  made  to  the  con 
trary,  because  of  his  manly  and  independent  conduct  when  the 
minions  of  the  Spanish  Crown  attempted  to  outrage  the 
rights  of  an  American  citizen,  and  to  dishonor  his  country's 
flag.  He  regards  the  compacts  and  compromises  of  the  Con 
stitution  as  the  sacred  legacies  of  our  forefathers,  to  be  guarded 
and  preserved  by  all  good  citizens,  and  as  the  palladium  of  our 
glorious  Union. 

George  Law  has  retired  from  the  a,ctive  private  business  in 
which  he  has  been  engaged,  and  his  mind  is  now  directed  to 
public  matters  and  to  the  amenities  of  life. 

In  his  home,  in  the  domestic  relations,  there  is  a  happy 
blending  of  all  the  characteristics  of  a  good  citizen — the  affec 
tionate  husband,  the  kind  father  and  the  faithful  friend. 
His  habits  of  industry  and  study,  and  the  moral  teachings  of  his 
mother  have  gathered  and  clustered  about  his  hearth  all 
the  social  and  domestic  virtues.  Temperate  in  all  things,  and 
benevolent  to  a  fault,  he  is  loved  and  respected  by  all  who  know 
him. 


INTRODUCTION.  2S 

A  beautiful  and  touching  testimonial  of  the  estimation  in  which 
George  Law  is  held  by  his  neighbors  and  friends,  many  of  whom 
rank  among  the  first  mechanics,  merchants,  scholars,  and  citi 
zens  of  New  York,  may  be  found  in  the  account  of  the  compli 
mentary  dinner  given  to  him,  and  which  is  printed  in  this 
pamphlet.  It  is  one  of  those  rare  occurrences  which  prove 
conclusively  the  high  position  and  exalted  worth  of  its  recipient. 
At  this  gathering,  sentiments  and  speeches  were  uttered  that 
ought  to  gratify  the  ambition  or  vanity  of  any  man.  We  find 
among  those  conspicuous  at  the  festival — men  who  have  dis 
tinguished  themselves  in  the  various  walks  of  private  and 
public  life — all  these  joined  in  one  paean  of  applause  and 
admiration  for  his  character,  and  the  achievements  that  had 
marked  the  semi-public  services  of  their  distinguished  guest. 

This  homage,  thus  expressed,  is  the  strongest  testimonial  of 
the  kind  this  community  has  ever  given,  in  honor  of  any  of  her 
heroes,  statesmen,  or  other  citizens. 

We  have  but  slightly  glanced  at  the  character  and  history  of 
George  Law,  but  we  think  we  have  said  enough  to  attract 
public  attention,  and  make  them  desire  to  learn  the  particulars 
of  his  eventful  and  useful  life. 

Starting  out  from  a  farm  at  an  early  age,  with  no  more 
advantages  than  the  poor  boys  of  our  country  generally  possess, 
he  has  steadily  followed  the  path  of  industry  and  enterprise, 
until,  under  the  age  of  fifty,  he  can  present  a  record  that  stands 
out  proudly  before  his  countrymen,  and  has  so  far  been  appre 
ciated  by  them,  that  in  the  midst  of  conflicting  party  strife,  he 


INTRODUCTION  23 

has  been  designated  by  a  great  State  as  the  "coming  man" 
who  is  to  serve  his  country  in  her  highest  office. 

We  present  to  the  Youth  of  America  an  example,  in  tho 
history  and  career  of  the  farmer's  boy,  worthy  of  all  imitation. 
To  the  statesmen  and  sages  of  our  country,  a  bright  embodi 
ment  of  the  practical  workings  of  our  institutions.  We  are 
confident  that  the  hopes  and  anticipations  which  these  pages 
are  calculated  and  intended  to  inspire,  will  be  realized  in  the 
forthcoming  Biography  of  George  Law. 


(JVow  thA  2few  Orleans  Delia.) 

OUR  WASHINGTON  CORRESPONDENCE. 

WASHINGTON,  April  19, 1856. 

WHAT   THEY   THINK   OP   GEORGE   LAW  AT   WASHINGTON — ADMINISTRATION 
INTRIGUES — SPANISH   AFFAIRS. 

The  rumors  respecting  the  attitude  of  the  administration  towards  Cuba 
change  like  the  kaleidoscope  every  day,  leaving  us  in  a  great  state  of 
uncertainty.  The  utmost  excitement  and  feeling  now  exist,  in  relation  to 
George  Law,  at  the  seat  of  government,  and  especially  among  the  depart 
ments  and  officials  of  government,  who  cannot  comprehend  the  enigma 
of  a  President  being  taken  from  the  ranks  of  the  people  instead  of  the 
politicians.  At  first  it  was  treated  as  a  joke  or  malicious  hoax  of  the 
Herald  ;  but  as  the  character  of  George  Law  begins  to  be  developed,  his 
great  administrative  talents  understood,  and  his  chances  brightening  with 
every  defeat  and  discomfiture  of  the  administration,  the  excitement 
increases  with  the  increasing  chance  of  his  election.  Happy  would  it  be 
for  the  future  weal  of  this  country,  if  George  Law  would  succeed  Franklin 
Pierce  as  President  of  the  United  States.  The  grossest  misrepresentations 
prevail  through  ignorance  or  malevolence  in  relation  to  Mr.  Law,  his 
family,  education,  and  character.  He  is  represented  by  some  to  be  a 
foreigner.  Now,  his  father  was  an  old  and  respectable  farmer  in  Wash 
ington  county,  New  York,  and  gave  his  eldest  son,  Joseph,  a  collegiate 
education.  Joseph  graduated  at  Union  College  with  high  honors,  and  was 
a  law  partner  of  the  Hon.  Dudley  Selden,  of  New  York.  George  had  a 
good  sound  English  education,  and  has  improved  his  truly  great  powers 
of  mind  since,  by  reading  and  study.  He  is  a  good  historian,  a  logical 
reasoner,  and  looks  with  a  practical  eye  into  everything — mankind,  books, 
and  business.  As  to  his  character,  he  is  eminently  a  moral  man,  strictly 
orthodox  in  American  views,  feelings  and  principles,  and  would  bring  to 
the  discharge  of  the  executive  duties  a  mind  vast  and  comprehensive,  in 
its  full  vigor  and  expansion. 


\Frotn  tte  N&JD  York  Herald  Jwie  2,  186ft.] 

BRIEF    BIOGRAPHY 

OP 

GEORGE  LAW,  OF  NEW  YORK, 

THE  PENNSYLVANIA  -LIVE  OAK  CANDIDATE 

FOR 

THE   PRESIDENCY. 


PREFACE. 

THE  idea  is  a  startling  one,  that  a  laborer — a  mechanic,  who 
commenced  his  career  by  laying  brick  for  one  dollar  a  day 
— should  be  nominated  by  a  great  party  as  a  candidate  for  the 
office  of  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  United  States.  Such  is  the 
fact.  George  Law  has  already  been  placed  in  nomination  by 
the  American  party,  in  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  ;  and 
this  premonitory  nomination  will  probably  be  confirmed  by  the 
American  National  Council. 

Yes,  it  shocks  the  prejudices  of  many  good  citizens,  who  have 
heretofore  believed  that  a  man  who  was  fit  to  be  elected  Chief 
Magistrate  must  have  served  an  apprenticeship  in  doing  mur 
ders  on  a  battle-field,  or  doing  roguery  in  a  law-office. 

As  the  name  of  George  Law  has  already  been  heard  in  this 
high  connection,  in  every  village,  town  and  city  in  each  State, 

2 


26  SKETCH    OF    EVENTS    IN 

North,  South,  East  and  West,  the  people  are  anxious  for  infor 
mation  in  this  matter.  They  want  to  knew  what  manner  of  man 
this  George  Law  is,  who  is  so  widely  spoken  of  for  the  next 
Presidency. 

His  opponents  do  not  leelieve  that  a  laborer — a  bricklayer — 
a  mechanic — a  merchant — a  man  of  practical  genius — has  any 
antecedents  that  betoken  great  administrative  talent.  Let  facts 
tell  the  story  ;  and  let  the  readers  of  the  following  simple 
history  bear  in  mind  the  old  adage,  that  "he  who  attends  most 
faithfully  to  his  own  business,  is  most  likely  to  be  faithful  when 
the  interests  of  others  are  confided  to  his  care." 


GEORGE  LAW  was  born  in  the  town  of  Jackson,  Washington 
county,  State  of  New  York,  on  the  25th  of  October,  1806. 
His  father,  John  Law,  was  a  farmer,  and  owned  about  one  hun 
dred  acres  of  land  at  the  time  George  was  born.  George  had 
two  brothers  and  two  sisters.  He  was  the  youngest  of  the 
three  boys.  These  children  are  all  dead  except  George  and  the 
youngest  sister,  who  is  married,  and  resides  at  and  owns  the  old 
homestead. 

George  left  home  in  1824,  when  he  was  eighteen  years  old. 
Up  to  that  period  he  remained  upon  the  farm  of  his  father, 
doing  "chores,"  attending  to  the  cattle,  and  in  the  winter 
months  he  attended  school.  His  father's  farm  was  gradually 
increasing,  and  before  George  left  home  numbered  nearly  five 
hundred  acres.  He  had  a  fine  stock  of  cattle,  and  kept  the 
largest  dairy  in  that  section.  His  neighbors  from  this  fact  gave 
him  the  name  of  "  Butter  John." 

The  farm  of  George's  father  was  on  the  road  to  Troy.  In 
fact,  the  Troy  road  ran  between  the  house  and  the  barn.  Hi? 
grandfather,  Robert  Law,  resided  about  a  quarter  of  a  milo  up 


THE     LIES     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  27 

the  road.  He  died  in  1809.  The  father  of  George  died  in 
1853.  George  had  an  uncle  named  .Robert,  who  took  the 
grandfather's  homestead  when  he  died.  Upon  the  farm  of  his 
father  John  was  George  raised  until  he  was  eighteen  years  old. 
John  Law  was  an  active,  energetic,  go-ahead  farmer.  His 
whole  soul  was  engrossed  with  the  farm.  The  house  was  an 
old-fashioned  country  farm-house,  built  of  plank.  The  roof 
extended  down,  and  covered  the  stoop.  On  one  side  of  the 
entrance  was  the  "  buttery,"  on  the  other  a  sleeping-room.  It 
had  an  old-fashioned  kitchen,  with  the  usual  monster  fire-place 
of  those  days.  Close  by  the  door  was  a  well  of  pure  water, 
with  "  the  old  pole  and  bucket."  The  farm  crossed  the  road. 
On  one  side  it  extended  in  meadow  to  the  Battenkill  river,  and 
on  the  other,  ran  back  on  the  pine  plain  to  the  hills,  which  were 
covered  with  timber. 

George  was  about  six  years  old  when  war  was  declared 
between  England  and  the  United  States.  It  was  evening,  and 
he  was  lying  in  an  old-fashioned  cradle  in  a  corner  of  the 
kitchen,  when  his  Uncle  Robert  came  in  and  told  the  news  ;  and 
he  lay  and  listened  to  the  conversation  which  it  called  forth,  and 
the  forebodings  of  invasion  of  their  neighborhood  from  Canada, 
which  it  occasioned.  From  that  time  he  became  a  reader  of 
the  newspapers. 

Not  long  after  this,  he  went  up  on  the  hill  into  an  orchard  to 
gather  some  fruit  with  his  mother.  It  was  Sunday.  The  day 
was  clear,  not  a  cloud  in  the  sky,  when  they  heard  what  sounded 
like  distant  thunder.  George  placed  his  ear  to  the  ground,  and 
distinctly  heard  the  low  booming  of  artillery.  "  Our  folks  are 
whipping  the  British  on  the  lake,  mother,"  said  George,  and  so 
it  proved,  for  the  next  day  the  news  came  of  Commodore 
McD enough's  victory  on  Lake  Champlain.  A  few  days  after, 
the  prisoners  were  brought  down  on  their  way  to  Albany. 
They  were  to  pass  within  a  mile  of  the  homestead.  George 


8  SKETCH     OF     EVEIN'TS     IN 

asked  his  father  and  mother  to  lot  him  go  and  see  them.  "  l>ro," 
was  their  decided  reply  ;  but  this  opportunity  was  not  to  be 
missed,  and,  for  the  first  time,  George  became  disobedient,  and. 
put  across  the  fields,  bare-headed,  to  the  other  road.  Soon 
after  they  came  along,  and  he  counted  300  prisoners  and  sixty 
guards.  At  first  he  was  shy  of  approaching  them  ;  but  when 
the  party  halted,  a  few  minutes  after,  to  get  their  dinner,  and 
he  saw  that  they  were  a  laughing,  pleasant  set  of  fellows,  he 
made  bold  to  get  over  the  fence  and  show  himself.  They  began 
talking  with  him  in  a  very  friendly  way,  and  finally  coaxed  him 
to  dinner.  One  of  them  told  him  that  he  would  make  a  good 
soldier  when  he  got  older.  Just  at  this  interesting  moment,  the 
father  of  George  made  his  appearance  to  catch  him,  and  master 
George  expected  a  whipping  ;  but  the  old  farmer  became  inter 
ested  in  the  conversation  and  the  accounts  of  the  battle,  and 
the  result  was  that  George  did  not  get  even  a  scolding  from  his 
father. 

As  soon  as  George  was  able  to  read,  the  first  book  which  fell 
into  his  hands  (for  his  father  possessed  very  few  books),  was  a 
COPZ  °f  tne  ltf°  and  poems  of  Burns.  This  he  learned  by  heart, 
and  it  gave  him  a  taste  for  book  reading.  He  had  no  time  to 
read  except  evenings  ;  and  when  he  was  sent  to  bed  he  would 
fix  a  candle  at  the  head  of  his  bed  and  read  while  the  candle 
lasted.  In  this  manner  he  read  the  Life  of  Washington,  Cook'f 
Voyages,  Carver's  Travels,  Plutarch's  Lives,  Josephus'  Works, 
and  Hume  and  Smollett's  History  of  England,  before  he  was  12 
years  old.  On  Sundays  he  was  not  allowed  to  read  any  such 
books,  and  on  that  day  his  good  mother  made  him  read  the 
Bible  with  Scott's  Commentaries  ;  and  this  course  was  followed 
for  many  years,  until  he  left  home,  and  could  repeat  the  Bible 
from  "the  beginning  to  the  end."  During  the  early  period  of 
his  history,  he  rose  with  the  sun — a  habit  never  left  off  in  after 
years,  Another  favorite  book  at  that  time  with  him,  was  the 


TUT']     LIFE     OF     OEOMG3     LAW.  29 

Life  of  William  Kay,  which  gave  a  history  of  a  youth  who  left 
his  father's  farm  and.  went  off  to  seek  his  fortune  iu  the  great 
world.  This  and  other  books  of  travels  settled  the  future- 
destiny  of  George,  and  decided  his  mind  to  leave  the  farm 
upon  the  first  occasion  that  offered  . 

When  George  reached  the  age  of  17,  he  began  to  be  tired  of 
farm  work,  arid  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  leave  home,  aud  do 
something  for  himself.  There  was  plenty  to  do  on  the  farm,  and 
his  father  opposed  the  plan.  From  the  time  George  was  12 
years  old,  his  mind  was  occupied  with  plans  of  building.  He 
would  get  a  company  of  boys  together  and  build  small  dams  or 
miniature  bridges,  and  he  was  constantly  among  mechanics, 
when  he  could  get  a  chance,  to  watch  what  they  did,  and  then 
try  if  lie  could  not  do  it  better.  This  caused  his  mother  to 
remark,  "  You  will  never  be  a  farmer,  George."  In  1824  there 
was  a  great  excitement  about  the  Erie  canal  in  that  section. 
This  gave  a  new  direction  to  the  thoughts  of  George.  He  then 
said  to  his  father  that  he  was  going  away  from  home.  The  old 
man  told  him  that  he  had  better  not  do  so  ;  that  he  would 
regret  it  ;  that  he  did  not  know  what  it  was  to  be  away  from 
home. 

At  that  time  George  had  no  money  to  put  his  plan  of  leaving 
home  into  effect.  He  had  nothing  in  the  world  but  the  clothes 
he  wore.  He  hired  out  that  summer  to  his  uncle,  and  earned 
$40.  With  this  capital  he  started  for  Troy.  When  quite  a 
lad  he  had  accompanied  his  father  to  the  same  place,  and  it  was 
the  only  time  he  had  been  away  from  home.  He  was  then  eight 
years  old.  His  father  was  after  plaster  ;  but  young  George  left 
him  in  the  wagon,  and  made  his  way  to  a  nail  factory,  and 
became  deeply  interested  in  the  first  manufacturing  he  had  ever 
seen. 

On  his  second  visit  to  Troy,  in  the  winter  of  1824,  he  hired 
himself  as  a  day  laborer,  at  $1  per  day.  His  duty  was  to 


30  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IN 

attend  on  the  stone-masons.  The  name  of  his  employer  was 
Warner  ;  he  worked  for  him  thirty-three  days  and  earned  $33. 
In  the  following  summer  he  went  to  Hoosic,  in  the  employ  of 
Mr.  Gait,  who  had  a  contract  to  build  a  house.  His  object 
was  to  commence  and  learn  everything,  from  bricklaying  to 
stone-cutting,  arid  he  knew  that  with  Mr.  Gait  lie  would  have 
every  chance.  He  worked  for  him  all  that  season,  laying  brick, 
cutting  stone  and  learning  the  mason's  trade.  When  the  fall 
came,  Mr.  Gait  could  not  pay  his  workmen.  George  lost  all  he 
had  earned,  and  was  obliged  to  leave,  owing  his  board  bill.  He 
told  Mr.  Noel,  to  whom  he  owed  this  board  bill,  how  he  was 
situated,  but  that  as  soon  as  he  was  able  he  Would  send  him 
what  he  owed.  Noel  said  there  was  time  enough,  and  George 
then  footed  it  back  to  Troy — twenty-two  miles — and  hired  out 
to  lay  brick  until  the  weather  became  cold,  when  he  received  his 
pay,  and  at  once  started  for  Hoosic  Four  Corners,  where  he  paid 
Mr.  Noel  his  board  bill.  Noel  was  surprised,  and  told  George 
he  never  expected  to  get  it,  as  none  of  Gait's  workmen  got  paid. 
When  George  -got  out  of  debt,  he  found  he  had  gained  his  first 
lesson  in  trusting.  To  pay  this  money,  though  it  left  George 
Law  nothing,  he  walked  twenty-two  miles  and  back — making 
forty-four  miles  in  one  day . 

He  spent  that  winter  in  Troy  ;  sold  an  old  silver  watch 
which  he  had  purchased  in  the  summer,  and  with  the  proceeds 
bought  a  few  school  books,  and  studied  them  without  a"  teacher. 
These  books  were  few  in  number,  but  very  important  at  that 
period  of  George's  life.  They  consisted  of  Daboll's  Arithmetic, 
Morse's  Geography  and  Atlas,  Walker's  Dictionary,  and  a 
work  entitled  Bookkeeping  by  Single  Entry.  These  books  were 
learned  "by  heart/'  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  in  after 
years,  when  the  operations  of  George  covered  millions,  he  never 
varied  from  the  rules  of  his  silent  instructor.  His  books  were 
always  kept  by  single  entry,  and  upon  a  certain  occasion,  when 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  31 

the  head  of  a  company  with  millions  of  capital,  of  which  George 
was  chief  owner,  was  explaining  the  advantages  of  the  system 
of  "double  entry,"  "Pali,"  said  George— "had  I  fooled  with 
such  a  system  I  should  have  spent  a  fortune  in  clerk  hire,  and 
been  penniless  myself/'7  He  devoted  his  whole  mind  to  his 
books  all  this  winter. 

That  spring  (1826)  he  went  to  work  again  laying  brick, 
and  earned  14s.  a  day.  That  May  he  paid  his  parents  a  visit 
at  Jackson,  and  soon  after  went  to  Kingston,  Ulster  county, 
New  York,  to  work  on  the  Delaware  and  Hudson  canal.  Mr. 
Murdock,  who  had  been  superintendent  for  Mr.  Gait  the  year 
previous,  wrote  to  him  at  Troy  to  come  to  Ulster,  where  he 
would  find  work  ;  at  Ulster,  George  went  into  the  employ  of 
Olliger  &  Hasbrouck,  and  commenced  building  a  lock  for  them. 
He  was  ignorant,  but  Mr.  Murdock,  who  was 'superintendent  of 
the  work,  showed  him  how  to  do  it,  and  his  wages  were  $2  25 
per  clay.  He  completed  this  lock  in  June,  1826,  and  then  went 
to  the  High  Falls  to  finish  some  locks.  Here  he  superintended 
the  building  of  a  lock  for  Mr.  McGinnis,  and  received  twenty 
shillings  per  day.  This  he  completed  in  August  of  the  same 
year.  He  then  engaged  to  build  two  locks  under  Murdock, 
which  occupied  him  three  months,  for  two  brothers  named 
Dubois.  In  November  he  made  his  second  visit  home  to  Wash 
ington  county.  He  had  saved  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

George  had  now  accumulated  a  lot  of  small  books  which  he 
could  easily  carry,  and  to  which  he  devoted  every  leisure 
moment  ;  and  in  addition  to  those  he  had  procured  at  Troy, 
and  which  to  him  were  "  standard  "  works,  he  had  Shakespere 
in  several  pocket  volumes,  Goldsmith's  works,  Letters  and  Life, 
Pope's  Homer,  and  eight  volumes  of  Byron's  works. 

This  year  he  was  twenty  years  old  ;  and  then  he  started  fo« 
Pennsylvania  \uth  his  pocket  library.  That  State  was  jus. 
commencing  its  great  work  George  could  now  cut  stone,  lay 


32  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IN 

brick,  or  do  any  work  of  that  sort  as  well  as  any  one,  and 
understood  building  locks,  bridges,  &c.  He  saw  contractors 
get  work,  and  then  get  men  to  carry  it  out ;  and  he  said  to 
himself,  "  If  such  men  can  make  money,  why  can't  I,  who  attend 
to  the  worK  myself?  These  men  do  not  oversee  their  work." 
With  such  views  he  left  home  for  the  city  of  New  York,  his 
destination  being  the  new  public  works  in  Pennsylvania.  He 
came  down  the  North  river  in  the  old  Chief  Justice  Marshall, 
and  landed  at  the  foot  of  Liberty  street,. not  knowing  a  soul  in 
the  city.  He  remained  in  New  York  three  days,  during  which 
time  he  strolled  about  the  city,  looking  at  what  was  to  be  seen. 
He  also  visited  Brooklyn.  From  New  York  he  went  to  New 
Brunswick,  and  across  to  the  Delaware  river  by  stage  to  Phila 
delphia.  The  trip  took  one  day,  and  its  rapidity  was  a  subject 
of  conversation  among  the  passengers.  He  remained  in  Phila 
delphia  three  days,  then  went  to  Pleading,  thence  to  Harrisburg, 
and  from  there  to  York  Mountains,  where  he  commenced 
getting  out  stone,  and  blocking  it  into  shape  for  locks,  at  so 
much  a  foot.  When  the  weather  got  cold,  he  went  to  work 
building  a  heavy  wall,  nine  miles  above  Harrisburg. 

George  then  hired  out  to  a  man  to  go  to  Port  Deposit  to  get 
out  stone  to  be  sent  to  the  Dismal  Swamp  canal  in  North 
Carolina  and  Yirginia.  This  was  in  the  month  of  February, 
1827.  He  went  on  foot  from  Harrisburg,  fifty  miles,  to  Port 
Deposit.  He  could  not  afford  to  go  by  stage  ;  it  would  have 
cost  too  much.  He  got  the  stone  ready  and  all  shipped  but  one 
load  to  Norfolk.  He  then  went  up  to  Marietta  on  foot,  and 
came  down  on  an  ark  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  the  Susque- 
hanna  river,  and  how  that  business  was  conducted.  The  pilot's 
name  was  BaVney  Brown.  He  landed  from  the  ark  on  the 
west  or  York  side  of  the  river,  and  walked  until  twelve  o'clock 
at  night  to  Port  Deposit,  and  embarked  in  a  sloop  carrying  the 
last  load  of  stone  to  Norfolk.  This  was  George's  first  sea 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  33 

voyage.  From  Norfolk  lie  walked  to  the  place  of  work  on  the 
bank  of  the  canal.  The  water  was  red,  being  juniper  water. 
There  was  no  settlement  save  six  or  seven  shanty  groceries. 
Here  he  boarded  at  a  place  with  six  other  men  ;  they  had  a 
negro  woman  for  a  cook.  His  work  was  to  finish  up  stone  for 
the  canal  lock.  It  became  very  unhealthy,  and  in  June  (1827), 
he  returned  to  Norfolk,  and  from  thence  in  a  sailing  packet  to 
New  York. 

During  the  above  trip  he  had  with  him  all  the  books  whicn 
he  had  accumulated,  except  "  Morse's  Atlas/'  which  he  could  - 
not  conveniently  carry. 

George  now  commenced  work  on  the  Morris  canal,  for  Hop 
kins  &  Fairbanks,  at  Mountville,  and  worked  until  November, 
when  cold  weather  commenced.  During  this  time,  hearing  that 
his  brother  Samuel  had  been  taken  with  paralysis,  he  made  a 
visit  home.  In  November  he  heard  that  the  health  of  his 
mother  was  failing  ;  he  went  home  and  remained  until  she  died. 
He  was  then  21  years  old. 

In  the  spring  of  1828  George  went  back  to  Mountvillc?,  in 
Jersey,  where  there  was  an  acqueduct  to  build,  and  also  an 
inclined  plane.  Here  he  worked  until  June.  He  met  with 
trouble  in  getting  his  payments  from  the  company,  and  left, 
reaching  New  York  city  about  July.  Here  he  had  a  proposi 
tion  made  to  him  to  take  work  on  the  Harlem  Canal,  which  was 
to  connect  the  Hudson  and  East  rivers.  He  regarded  the 
whole  concern  as  nonsensical,  and  would  not  continue  to  work 
upon  it,  and  concluded  to  go  back  to  Pennsylvania,  to  the  lower 
division  of  the  Lehigh  Canal,  three  miles  from  Easton.  He 
now  became  superintendent  for  Mr.  Cady,  a  man  about  sixty 
years  old,  a  good  mechanic,  who  had  worked  on  the  Erie  Canal. 
This  Mr.  Cady  used  to  take  the  world  easy.  He  would  get 
under  a  shed  out  of  the  sun,  and  watch  the  operations  of  his  su 
perintendent  and  the  men.  On  one  occasion  he  called  to  George 

o* 


34  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IN 

to  corne  to  him.      "  George,"  said  he,  "  you  are  a  great  fool 
to  work  for  me  as  you  do." 

"  How  so  ?"  inquired  George. 

"  Why,  I-  used  to  work  and  superintend  myself,  until  I  made 
a  name.  Now  I  am  living  on  that  and  my  reputation,  while 
you  in  reality  do  all  the  work.  You  should  make  contracts 
yourself,  and  work  under  nobody.  You  are  more  capable  of 
doing  it  than  I  am." 

George  remained  with  Mr.  Cady  till  the  fall  of  1828,  making 
dams,  locks,  &c.,  and  superintending  the  masonry  work. 

During  this  period  he  had  increased  his  library  to  fifty 
•volumes,  and  had  purchased  several  works  on  drawing,  which 
he  carefully  studied  at  every  leisure  moment. 

While  working  for  Cady,  he  was  taken  sick  with  fever  ami- 
ague,  and  went  home  to  Jackson,  X.  Y.  He  was  sick  all  that 
winter,  and  boarded  at  a  tavern.  He  never  remained  at  the 
homestead  when  he  visited  his  native  place.  He  had  too  much 
pride  to  allow  any  of  the  neighbors  to  say  that  he  sponged 
on  his  parents.  When  spring  came,  he  was  out  of  money,  and 
owed  a  tavern  bill  for  board.  This  was  in  1829.  He  then  pro 
cured  a  horse  on  credit,  and  rode  to  Troy,  thence  to  Athens,  in 
Orange  cqjinty,  to  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  and  went  to 
work  again  for  the  same  company,  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Cady. 
He  got  through  that  job  in  June  (1829),  and  then  went  on 
the,  Delaware  division,  ten  miles  from  Easton,  and  superintended 
locks  and  an  acqueduct.  Then  he  took  work  of  a  Mr.  Otis 
and  built  a  lock  and  small  acqueduct.  He  finished  this  in  the 
fall.  This  was  his  first  sub-contract.  It  was  in  1829,  and 
George  was  twenty-three  years  old. 

George  had  poor  health  this  summer.  His  old  friend  the 
ague  kept  him  company.  He  went  to  Easton,  and  spent  the 
winter  of  1829  and  '30.  That  fall  the  Morris  canal  had  let- 
tings,  and  George  put  in  a  bid  for  the  inclined  plane.  H?  tra- 


THS     LIFE      OK     G.EOUGE      LAW.  35 

veiled  over  the  canal  from  Eastou  to  Aiidover,  and  made  his 
estimates.     His  bid  was  accepted  with  Otis  &  Carmichael,  but 
in  the  winter  of   1829  George  sold  out  his  interest  for  $200. 
That  winter  he  made  .a  contract  with  Otis,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1830,  commenced  at  Gallus  Run,  taking  down  acqueducts  and 
building  locks.     This  occupied  him  until  August,  1830.     Up  to 
this  period  George  not  only  kept  the  accounts  and  superintended, 
but  worked  regularly  himself.      In  the  fall  of   1830  he  went 
home,  and  thus  he  had  done  every  year  ;  but  this  time  he  was 
worth  money.      He    had  accumulated  a  capital  of  $2,850,  and 
on  the  strength  of  it  he  visited  Marquand,  the  great  jeweller,  in 
Broadway,  at  that  time,  and  invested  $300  in  a  good  solid  gold 
watch,  which  George  wears  to  this  day.     After  his  visit  home 
he  returned  to  Easton,  where  he  was  seized  with  the  pleurisy, 
and   came   very   near  dying.     Here  he  was  attended  by  Dr. 
Swift.     In  the  spring  of  1831  George  attended  the  lettings  of 
the  Juniata  division,  at  Williamsburg,  of  the  Portage  railroad 
over  the  Alleghany  Mountains  ;  also  on  the  Columbia  railroad, 
west   and   north   branch,  Williamsburg,  and  the  Pennsylvania 
canal.     To  complete  all  these  lettings  occupied  him  until  July 
of  this  year,  when  he  returned  to  Easton.     He  then  went  to 
work  at  Williamsburg,  on  the  Juniata   division,  about  twelve 
miles  from  Huntingdon.     He  was  building  dams,  bridges  and 
locks,  and  had  a  chill  every  day.     For  the  first  time  he  became 
owner  of  a  horse  arid  wagon,  which  he  bought  at  Easton.    This 
was  the  first  contract  from  "  first  hands"  he  had  ever  had  alone. 
All   previous   were   sub-contracts,  or   with   others    interested. 
This  work  lasted  until  the  fall  of  1832,  about  eighteen  months. 
He  then  got  his  brother  Sam  to  come  out  and  visit  him  for  his 
health.     In  December,  1832,  he  had  great  difficulty  on  the  Del 
aware   division— a   break   out  of  the   river  into  the  canal— to 
remedy  which  he  built  stop-gates.     In  February,  1833,  George 
went  to  Philadelphia  and  married  a  lady  to  whom  he  had  become 


36  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IN 

attached  in  1830.  The  summer  of  1833  was  spent  in  fulfilling 
a  contract  made  at  Easton  to  build  a  "  weigh-lock,"  capable  of 
weighing  a  boat  of  100  tons,  at  the  head  of  the  Delaware 
division,  and  for  the  Lehigh  boats. 

In  the  fall  he  returned  home,  as  usual,  to  see  the  folks. 

Shortly  after  his  return  to  Easton,  his  brother  Samuel  died  ; 
previous  to  which,  the  father  of  George  had  paid  his  sick  son  a 
visit,  and  then  savf  Mrs.  Law  for  the  first  time. 

At  the  time  George  married,  his  library  had  increased  to  one 
hundred  choice  volumes,  and  they  were  well  read  and  studied, 
for  George  bought  no  book  to  lie  idle  on  the  shelf. 

In  the  year  1834,  George  took  a  journey  to  the  Western 
country.  He  started  with  some  idea  of  settling  at  Chicago  ; 
but  when  he  reached  that  new  town,  he  found  too  much  fever 
and  ague  in  the  region  to  suit  his  purpose,  and  returned  home 
aud  employed  this  summer  in  doing  nothing.  Up  to  this  period 
George  had  labored  to  obtain  money  enough  to  live  without 
labor.  He  had  achieved  his  object,  but  ascertained,  from  a  few 
months'  idleness,  that  it  was  a  miserable  life  to  lead,  so  he 
returned  to  Easton,  and  commenced  building  a  bridge  over  the 
Lehigh.  He  had  become  an  expert  draftsman,  and  drew  all  of 
his  working  plans,  and  understood  engineering  in  all  its  details. 
He  did  a  large  amount  of  work  on  the  upper  division  of  the 
Lehigh  canal,  between  Mauch  Chunk  and  White  Haven.  He 
was  engaged  in  constructing  for  the  Lehigh  Company.  From 
the  summer  of  1835  to  that  of  1836,  George  carried  on  public 
works  at  Easton.  During  this  time  he  had  rented  a  house  for 
himself  at  Easton,  and  moved  his  family  into  it. 

In  August,  183T,  George  came  to  the  citj  of  New  York. 
His  brother  Joseph  resided  there,  and  had  correspouu,?^  w^ 
him  in  reference  to  a  contract  for  the  Croton  water  works, 
George  had  watched  the  progress  of  this  great  work  for  several 
years,  and  in  183t»he  bid  for  three  jobs,  and  got  two  of  them, 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  37 

above  Tarrytown.  He  had  two  sections  iu  Sleepy  Hollow, 
made  famous  by  the  pen  of  Washington  Irving.  When  this 
work  was  allotted  to  him,  he  selected  a  site  for  the  necessary 
buildings,  and  then  returned  to  Philadelphia  for  his  family.  He 
had  taken  them  from  Easton  to  Philadelphia,  and  left  them 
there  while  he  came  on  to  New  York.  During  this  time  his 
children,  Josephine  and  Mary  Alice,  had  the  scarlet  fever,  of 
which  Mary  Alice  died.  He  removed  his  family  to  Tarrytown 
in  December,  1837,  and  then  commenced  the  work  on  the 
Croton.  ;:  .  • 

When  he  removed  from  Pennsylvania  to  New  York  his 
library  had  increased  to  three  hundred  volumes,  and  his  leisure 
moments  had  a  bountiful  supply  of  the  most  valuable  reading 
matter. 

In  the  fall  of  1839,  his  brother  Joseph,  who  had  spent  the 
previous  winter  in  Cuba  for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  died  of 
consumption  at  the  house  of  his  brother  George.  About  this 
time,  George  made  a  bid  for  the  High  Bridge,  and  was  success 
ful.  He  hurried  home  to  attend  his  brother,  who  died  ten  days 
after.  The  same  fall,  George  was  attacked  with  a  disease  of 
the  throat.  He  had  been  attending  to  both  of  the  great  public 
works,  and  was  constantly  exposed  to  the  night  air.  He  lost 
his  voice,  could  not  get  sleep,  and  his  business  occupation 
became  burthensome  ;  the  doctors  gave  him  no  relief,  and  he 
told  his  wife  that  he  was  sure  of  one  thing — that  unless  he  gave 
up  business  for  a  time  he  must  die.  He  decided  to  go  to 
Europe,  and  in  August,  1840,  sailed  for  Liverpool  in  the  packet 
ship  Independence. 

George  landed  at  Liverpool,  and  visited  at  once  the  manufac 
turing  places.  Thence  to  the  Grand  Leamington  Springs, 
Kenilworth,  Stafford  and  other  towns,  and  then  to.  London. 
He  crossed  to  Paris  ;  Louis  Napoleon  was  then  on  trial.  He 
was  in  Paris  in  December,  1840,  when  the  body  of  Napoleon 


38  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IN 

the  Grand  was  brought  there.  He  remained  in  Paris  some  days, 
in  order  to  witness  the  great  display.  From  Paris  he  went  to 
Lyons  by  diligence.  There  were  three  French  deputies  in  the 
vehicle,  but  as  they  spoke  no  English,  and  George  did  not 
understand  French,  they  could  only  manage  to  eat  and  drink 
together. 

From  Lyons  he  went  to  Marseilles,  from  Marseilles  to  Genoa, 
Leghorn,  Civita  Vecchio  and  Rome.  In  the  Holy  City  he  remain 
ed  six  weeks,  and  from  thence  went  to  Naples.  From  Naples  he 
returned  to  Marseilles,  Paris,  Havre,  to  Southampton  and  to 
London.  From  London  he  went  to  Antwerp  and  Brussels,  and 
visited  the  field  of  Waterloo,  and  back  again  to  London.  In 
May,  1841,  he  left  for  home  in  the  steamship  Caledonia,  via 
Halifax  and  Boston. 

It  was  at  the  time  the  President  was  supposed  to  be  lost,  and 
his  friends  advised  him  not  to  go  home  in  a  steamer  ;  but  he 
was  anxious  to  see  the  workings  at  sea  of  a  steamer.  He  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  build  steamers,  and  believed  that  the 
shortening  of  time  of  •  passage  proportionally  lessened  the 
danger. 

During  his  absence  abroad  for  his  health,  he  examined  all  the 
principal  works,  especially  bridges  and  aqueducts,  but  he  found 
that  he  could  obtain  no  new  idea  to  apply  to  the  High  Bridge 
which  he  was  constructing.  He  ascertained  that  we  Americans 
were  ahead  of  anything  abroad  in  the  machinery  way,  and  in 
the  adaptation  of  implements  to  accomplish  work. 

Soon  after  his  return  from  Europe,  he  paid  a  visit  home.  It 
was  on  the  occasion  of  this  visit  that  a  little  incident  occurred, 
which  must  have  gratified  the  feelings  of  George  very  greatly. 
As  has  been  said  before,  John  Law,  the  father,  was  an  energe 
tic,  active  farmer.  His  whole  soul  was  engaged  in  that 
pursuit ;  he  had  purchased  tract  after  tract  of  adjoining  lands, 
until  he  owned  500  acres.  But  to  do  this,  he  had  got  in  debt 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  3.9 

by  notes  and  mortgages.  When  George  went  home  on  this 
visit,  he  said  to  his  father,  "  Tell  me  the  amount  of  all  that  you 
owe  in  any  shape  or  way."  The  father  did  so,  and  before 
George  returned  back  to  the  city,  all  his  father's  liabilities  were 
cleared  up,  and  the  old  gentleman  had  no  more  worry.  He 
died  as  late  as  1853,  at  the  age  of  86. 

While  in  Europe,  George  visited  no  place  without  buying  all 
the  books  relating  to  the  place  or  objects  of  interest  which  he 
visited,  and  brought  them  home  with  him  for  future  reference. 

In  June,  1841,  George  removed  his  family  from  Tarry  town 
to  New  York  city,  and  that  summer  he  closed  up  the  work  on 
the  Croton  at  Tarrytown.  He  took  a  house  in  Hammond 
street,  where  he  resided  two  years.  He  also  removed  the  house 
•which,  he  had  occupied  at  Tarrytown,  to  the  end  of  the  Harlem 
Bridge,  where  it  still  stands  ;  and  in  the  summer  he  resided 
there  until  the  final  completion  of  the  High  Bridge.  He  found 
a  great  benefit  from  having  his  house  where  his  work  was  to  be 
done. 

In  addition  to  his  other  books,  George  had  at  various  times 
accumulated  a  large  quantity  of  law  books,  especially  those  of 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  New  York — States  in  which  he 
was  performing  work — and  made  himself  familiar  with  their  con 
tents,  especially  in  cases  bearing  upon  his  own  interest  and 
contracts  ;  and  in  this  way  gained  a  legal  knowledge  of  a  higher 
order  than  is  usually  possessed  by  those  gentlemen  who  sport  a 
tin  sign,  and  sometimes  occupy  seats  in  Congress  or  higher 
places. 

The  last  part  of  the  year  1841  was  devoted  mainly  to  the 
closing  up  of  the  work  .at  Tarrytown,  and  continuing  on  with 
the  High  Bridge,  The  contract  was  made  by  George  in  parts, 
not  as  a  whole— so  much  for  the  coffer  dam,  cutting  the  rock  to 
such  a  depth;  so  much  for  stone  arches,  parapets,  walls,  coping  ; 
in  fact,  there  were  about  forty  different  items.  The  large  sum 


40  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IN 

which  it  is  supposed  George  has  made  by  erecting  this  splendid 
bridge,  which  has  no  rival  in  the  world,  was  realized  by  the  im 
provements  he  made.  He  introduced  steam — the  pumping  was 
done  by  steam,  piles  drove,  stone  raised,  &c.  The  old  mode  would 
have  ruined  him,  or  any  other  contractor;  and  when  the  bridge 
was  completed  in  1849,  George  had  gained  so  much  practical 
experience  that  he  could  have  gone  to  work  again  and  performed 
the  same  work  at  one  quarter  less  than  it  actually  had  cost  him. 
The  year  1842  was  a  witness  of  more  extended  operations 
on  the  part  of  George.  This  year  he  became  interested  in  the 
Dry  Dock  Bank;  and  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  here,  to  give  a 
succinct  narration  of  George's  connection  with  this  institution. 
Previous  to  George's  embarking  for  Europe  he  had  purchased 
one  hundred  and  sixteen  shares  in  this  bank,  as  a  good  invest 
ment.  There  was  a  company  chartered  for  the  purpose  of  con 
structing  a  Marine  Railway  in  1825,  with  a  capital  of  seven 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  with  banking  privileges. _  It  was  the,  first 
marine  railway  ever  constructed  in  the  city.  The  company  pur 
chased  a  large  quantity  of  land  in  the  vicinity  of  the  railway, 
and  in  this  purchase  of  land,  and  in  the  construction  of  the  rail 
way,  they  expended  a  large  amount  of  their  capital — to  such  an 
extent  that  it  could  not  pay  dividends  on  its  original  capital,  and 
it  was  therefore  reduced  to  $420,000,  and  the  shares  to  $30. 
The  Dry  Dock  charter  was  perpetual.  The  concern  was  a  suc 
cessful  one,  and  the  stock,  which  was  $30  per  share,  got  above 
par.  In  1835  and  1836  the  Dry  Dock  Company  lost  a  large 
amount  of  money  by  bad  debts,  and  it  was  obliged  to  mortgage 
the  real  estate.  It  loaned  money  from  the  American  Life  and 
Trust  Company  of  Baltimore.  All  this  was  long  before  George 
had  anything  to  do  with  the  Dry  Dock  Company.  In  June, 
1842,  this  loan  became  due.  George  was  then  one  of  the  direc 
tors,  and  began  to  look  out  for  ways  and  means  to  meet  these 
loans.  The  bank  had  no  money.  The  directors  went  to  see  Mr 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  41 

Duer  and  Morris  Robinson,  to  try  and  make  arrangements  to  meet 
the  indebtedness  of  the  bank  with  its  real  estate.  Mr.  Stebbins, 
the  president  of  the  bank,  by  order  of  the  directors,  offered  to  pay, 
in  real  estate,  at  a  valuation,  the  whole  amount  of  indebtedness. 
The  offer  was  refused  and  treated  with  contempt.  These  foreign 
agencies  then  endeavored  to  ruin  the  institution,  by  placarding 
notices  forbidding  tenants  and  debtors  to*  the  Dry  Dock  Company 
to  pay  in  theirindebtedness,  stating  that  the  property  had  changed 
hands — and  in  every  way  possible  endeavored  to  discredit  the  Dry 
Dock  Company,  in  hopes  that  the  stock  would  go  so  low  that 
the  foreign  agents  would  get  it  into  their  own  hands,  to  the  utter 
ruin  of  the  legitimate  friends  of  the  bank.  They  hoped  to  force 
a  sale  of  the  real  estate,  so  that  they  could  buy  it  at  a  ruinous 
sacrifice  to  the  bank  and  its  stockholders.  The  Dry  Dock  Com 
pany  applied  to  the  Court  of  Chancery  to  restrain  by  injunction 
the  parties  from  such  proceedings,  and  in  doing  so  set  out  the 
whole  transaction  from  the  commencement,  and  in  reply  an  injunc 
tion  was  issued  restraining  such  proceedings.  In  the  answer  of 
these  foreign  agents,  (for  most  of  the  stock  of  the  Baltimore 
Trust  Company  was  owned  in  England),  they  brought  the  Dry 
Dock  Bank  into  court.  A  -long  litigation  followed.  The  Mor 
risons,  of  London,  applied  as  a  party  holding  £47,000,  and  they 
were  admitted  by  the  court.  These  persons  then  started  a 
scheme  to  purchase  a  majority  of  the  stock,  and  get  new  direc 
tors.  George  suspected  this,  and  at  once  went  to  work  and 
bought  a  majority  of  the  $420,000  stock  himself.  The  election 
same  on,  and  the  old  directors  were  elected.  The  parties  then 
sent  to  George,  and  offered  to  buy  all  his  stock  at  60  per  cent. 
His  reply  was,  "No;  buy  all  the  stock — give  notice  to  all  the 
stockholders,  and  buy  their  stock,  and  I  will  sell  mine."  They 
di  clined,  and  said  they  could  not  afford  it.  George  clearly  saw 
that  a  fraud  was  intended  by  their  offering  to  buy  him  out,  and 
t)  at  they  would  have  then  sacrificed  the  balance  of  the  st<v*k- 


42  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IN 

holders.  The  directors  then  offered  to  pay  75  per  cent  on  the 
debt  of  $240,000.  This  was  more  in  value  than  the  bank  had 
received.  This  offer  was  refused.  The  bank  then  told  them 
that  they  should  only  get  what  the  law  allowed;  and  so  it  went 
into  court.  The  court  unanimously  decided  against  them,  and 
the  bonds  were  ordered  4o  be  cancelled.  The  bank  afterwards 
paid  the  balance  of  the  bonds  of  those  who  had  not  come  into 
the  prosecution,  with  interest,  although  not  obliged  by  law  to 
pay  a  cent.  Since  that  time  George  has  remained  the  largest 
stockholder  in  the  Dry  Dock  Company,  and  the  stock  has  been 
and  is  increasing  in  value.  It  gives  aid  to  mechanics  almost 
exclusively,  and  is  a  valuable  institution  in  this  regard  alone. 
The  fact  that  George  is  the  largest  stockholder  is  a  guarantee 
of  its"  prosperity.  But  to  return  to  the  period  of  1842,  from 
which  we  have  digressed. 

It  was  in  this  year  that  George  went  into  the  Harlem  Rail 
road  stock.  This  road  was  supposed  to  be  ruined  and  the  stock 
worthless.  Its  original  capital  was  two  millions.  It  was  selling 
at  five  per  cent.  George  made  up  his  mind  that  with  proper 
management  it  would  be  worth  half — fifty  per  cent,  or  one  mil 
lion.  Although  it  was  swamped  in  debts,  not  paying  its  expenses, 
he  went  to  work  and  bought  all  it  required,  and  paid  cash.  He 
extended  its  indebtedness  for  three,  five  and  six  years,  and  made 
all  its  debts  good.  He  bought  the  iron  to  extend  it  from  Wil 
liams'  Bridge  to  White  Plains.  He  bought  engines,  and  cancelled 
2,000  shares  which  had  been  pledged  for  $9,000.  Under  such 
management  as  that  of  George,  the  stock  went  from  6  to  75  per 
cent.  Thousands  upon  thousands  had  been  squandered  foolishly 
upon  the  best  road  in  the  city.  He  wished  to  carry  it  to  Albany. 
But  for  George  this  road  would  have  been  sold  and  become  a 
total  loss,  and  thousands  would  have  been  sufferers  among  all 
classes. 

In  the  year  1 843  George  bought  the  Neptune  to  make  exp<?- 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  43 

riments  with.  He  bad  always  had  an  inclination  to  build  ocean 
steamers,  and  during  his  trip  to  Europe  he  seized  upon  every 
opportunity  to  acquire  information  in  regard  to  steamship  building. 
In  addition  to  these  experiments,  he  was  engaged  on  the  Harlem, 
the  High  Bridge  and  the  Dry  Dock  property,  and  this  year  he 
took  in  hand  the  Mohawk  Railroad.  This  road  was  in  a  wretched 
way,  and  the  stockholders  and  others  induced  George  to  under 
take  to  make  it  worth  something — see  what  could  be  done.  It 
was  a  road  from  Schenectady  to  Albany,  with  an  inclined  plane 
at  each  end.  The  capital  was  one  million  and  a  half,  and  the 
stock  was  worth  27  per  cent  only  when  George  bought  into  it, 
and  commenced  work.  "Do  what  you  please,  George,  with  it, 
as  long  as  you  don't  ask  money  from  the  company,"  said  the 
directors.  It  owed  over  $200,000  in  floating  debt.  George  did 
uway  with  the  inclined  planes,  carried  it  around  the  hills,  con 
nected  it  with  the  Utica  road,  stocked  the  cars,  and  when  he 
left  it  the  stock  was  worth  75  per  cent.  He  reduced  the  expenses 
from  $80,000  to  $30,000.  The  stock  has  since  gone  up  to,  and 
even  over  par,  arid  now  pays  a  good  7  per  cent  interest. 

In  addition  to  these  works,  in  the  fall  of  1844  George  com 
menced  the  Oregon,  the  first  steamer  he  ever  built. '  She  was 
launched  in  the  spring  of  1845,  and  ran  that  fall.  He  sold  her' 
in  1847.  In  1846  George  was  still  engaged  on  the  bridge,  and 
running  the  Neptune  and  Oregon,  and  had  increased  his  library 
and  his  reading  knowledge  several  thousand  volumes. 

We  now  come  to  the  year  1847,  memorable  for  the  com 
mencement  of  the  preparations  which  ended  in  his  building  or 
buying  sixteen  ocean  steamers. 

We  have  reached  a  period  when  the  greatest  event  of  this 
century  occurred — the  opening  of  the  rich  treasures  of  California 
to  the  world.  We  have  already  spoken  of  the  ambition  of  George 
to  reach  the  same  perfection  in  steamships  that  he  had  reached  in 
land  constructions.  In  1847  Col.  A.  G.  Sloo  had  made  a  con- 


44  SKETCH     OF     EVICTS     IN 

tract  with  the  United  States  -government  to  carry  the  mails  to 
California  via  New  Orleans  and  Chagres.  He  could  not  com 
ply  with  the  terms  of  the  contract,  as  he  had  not  the  means  to 
build  the  steamers.  Tliere  was  but  one  person  who  could  under 
take  so  vast  an  enterprise,  and  that  one  was  George.  Col.  Sloo 
made  his  acquaintance,  and  negotiations  were  commenced,  which 
ended  in  George  agreeing  to  build  the  necessary  steamers. 
George,  in  making  such  an  arrangement,  was  actuated  by  the 
highest  motives  of  patriotism.  He  desired  that  the  American 
people  should  secure  the  trade  of  the  North  Pacific  from  the 
English.  The  latter  Power  had  secured  all  the  trade  of  the 
South  Pacific,  and  but  for  these  steamers  of  his  they  would  also 
have  had  the  entire  trade  of  the  North  Pacific  and  California'. 
It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  benefit  and  advantages  which 
have  been  secured  to  the  United  States  by  these  steamers. 
He  purchased  the  Falcon,  which  made  her  first  trip  in  the  fall 
of  1848.  She  took  the  first  passengers  to  Chagres  that  reached 
California.  The  Ohio  and  Georgia,  built  by  George,  commenced 
running  in  January,  1849. 

In  1850  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company  started  an  oppo 
sition  to  George's  line  of  steamers  between  New  York  and 
Chagres.  George  at  once  placed  an  opposition  line  of  four 
steamers  on  the  Pacific,  to  run  from  Panama  to  San  Francisco, 
so  as  to  make  a  through  line  from  New  York  and  New  Orleans 
via  Panama  to  San  Francisco. 

In  January,  1851,  George  sold  out  the  Pacific  line  of  steamers 
to  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company,  and  purchased  their 
line  on  this  side,  consisting  of  the  Empire  City,  the  Crescent 
City,  Philadelphia,  El  Dorado,  Illinois,  and  Cherokee.  This 
arrangement  was  completed  April  1,  1851. 

In  the  fall  of  1852,  the  Captain  General  of  Cuba  issued  an 
order  prohibiting  the  Crescent  City  or  auy  other  vessel  from 
coming  into  the  harbor  of  Havana,  which  should  have  Mr 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEO11GE     LAW.  45 

Smith,  the  purser  of  the  Crescent  City,  on  board.  George 
refused  to  submit  to  it,  and  appealed  to  our  government  at 
Washington.  Instead  of  replying  to  the  letter  of  George  and 
liis  associates,  they  endeavored  to  persuade  him  to  remove  Mr. 
Smith,  as  the  easiest  way  to  settle  the  difficulty,  as  they  could 
find  many  men  who  would  answer  for  purser  as  well  as  Smith. 
George  said  that  was  not  the  question  ;  that  Mr.  Smith  was  an 
American,  and  had  a  right  to  the  protection  of  our  govern 
ment  ;  and  that  he  would  not  dismiss  Smith  or  any  other  man, 
under  these  circumstances,  from  on  board  of  his  vessels,  at  the 
dictation  of  any  foreign  government.  That  it  was  no  reason 
because  Mr.  Smith  was  a  poor  man,  and  that  any  other  man 
could  fill  his  place,  that  his  rights  should  not  be  protected. 
President  Fillmore  replied  to  George,  that  if  his  steamer  was 
destroyed  lie  would  have  no  claim  for  damages.  George  told 
Mr.  Fillniore  that  if  that  was  all  the  protection  Americans  were 
to  receive  from  their  own  government,  the  sooner  they  found  it 
out  the  better  for  them  ;  that  he  was  satisfied  that  there  was 
spirit  enough  in  the  American  people  to  protect  their  own 
rights.  George  continued  Smith  as  purser  until  the  Spanish 
government  withdrew  their  order,  although  they  threatened  to 
p,ink  the  steamer  Crescent  City  every  time  she  entered  Havana. 
The  Spanish  authorities  said  that  Purser  Smith  had  furnished 
information  to  the  American  newspapers  injurious  to  the  Cuban 
government.  George  replied  that  Smith  had  done  nothing  of 
the  kind  j-  but  if  it  was  the  fact,  he  had  yet  to  lean;  what  right 
the  government  of  Cuba  had  to  muzzle  the  American  press. 

In  1849,  George  made  the  famous  purchase  of  muskets  of  the 
United  States  government,  and  it  was  the  only  direct  transac 
tion  he  ever  had  with  the  government  in  any  shape  whatever. 
There  were  144,000  muskets  ordered  for  public  .auction  by  the 
government,  at  certain  prices.  The  muskets  did  not  bring 
those  prices,  and  George  made  an  offer  at  private  sale,  which 


46  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IN 

was  accepted.  These  muskets  cost  the  United  States  govern 
ment  about  $12  each.  George  ordered  them  altered  to  percus 
sion  locks,  and  many  to  the  Minie  rifle.  This  year,  1849,  the 
High  Bridge  was  completed. 

In  the  summer  of  1851,  after  the  transactions  with  the  Pacific 
Mail  Steamship  Company  were  closed,  George  took  a  large 
interest  in  the  railroad  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  He  left 
STew  York  the  day  that  he  signed  the  contract  for  building  the 
steamship  George  Law,  the  last  steamer  he  constructed.  He 
left  in  February,  1852,  went  to  Chagres  and  Panama,  and 
examined  the  line  of  road.  The  stock  was  worth  75  when  he 
bought  half  a  million.  He  went  to  Aspinwall,  located  a  termi 
nus,  and  set  men  at  work  building  a  road,  a  dock  and  dep6t  for 
steamers,  which  was  the  first  dock  ever  built  in  that  country 
for  commerce  between  the  two  oceans.  He  returned  home  in 
April,  1852,  after  having  visited  Havana,  Porto  Bello,  San 
Juan  and  New  Orleans,  and  examined  into  the  resources  of  all 
these  places.  He  sold  out  his  interest  in  the  road  in  the  winter 
of  1853. 

In  1852,  George  went  into  the  Eighth  Avenue  Railroad. 
The  charter  had  been  granted  to  some  men  in  the  city.  They 
quarrelled,  and  could  not  go  on  with  the  work.  There  were 
but  two  and  a  half  months  to  build  it  in.  George  advanced 
$800.000,  and  built  the  road  in  the  specified  time.  It  is  one  of 
the  best  roads  in  the  city.  It  is  intended  to  go  to  Harlem. 

In  1853,  George  purchased  the  Staten  Island  ferry  for 
$600,000,  and  this  year  also,  he  purchased  property  in  the 
Fifth  avenue,  and  built  his  present  residence,  and  moved  into  it. 

In  that  plain  but  substantial  edifice  —  the  fruit  of  his  own 
labor  and  industry— he  resides,  surrounded  by  every  comfort, 
with  a  library  unequalled,  including  his  early  friendly  volumes  ; 
he  philosophizes  upon  the  past,  independent  in  everything,  and 
embodying  in  America  the  character  of  Cincinnatiis,  the  Roman, 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  47 

or  Epaniinondas,  the  Grecian,  the  ancient  heroes  of  Plutarch. 
As  has  been  clearly  shown  in  this  brief  history,  George's  ante 
cedents  for  the  Presidency  are  those  of  labor.  Up  to  this  time, 
he  has  not  qualified  himself  for  the  high  office,  either  by  doing 
murder  in  battle-fields,  or  roguery  in  a  law  office. 

In  1854,  George  sold  out  all  his  interest  in  the  sea  steamers, 
and  then,  intending  to  visit  Europe,  he  bought  the  Grapeshot, 
to  be  used  as  a  private  yacht  for  himself  while  abroad.  This 
year  he  commenced  the  improved  style  of  fireproof  building  in 
the  Bowery. 

In  February,  1855,  George  was  nominated  by  the  Pennsyl 
vania  Legislature  for  the  Presidency.  And  here  this  Biography 
will  break  off  for  a  while,  to  be  filled  up  as  the  sun  goes  round 
and  the  grass  grows — that  is,  by  future  events. 


[From  the  New  York  Herald,  May  23, 1852.] 

DINNER  TO  GEORGE  LAW. 

WHAT   THE   LEADING   POLITICIANS,  CLERGYMEN,  LAWYERS  AND  OTHERS 
THOUGHT  OF  LIVE  OAK  GEORGE  IN  1852,  &C.,  &C. 

THE  complimentary  dinner  tendered  by  a  number  of  our  most 
eminent  citizens  to  George  Law,  in  token  of  their  appre 
ciation  of  his  great  service  to  American  commercial  and  indus 
trial  interests,  came  off  last  evening  at  the  Astor  House,  and 
was,  beyond  question,  the  most  sumptuous  and  marked  feast 
ever  given  within  the  walls  of  the  Astor  or  any  other  place,  on 
a  similar  occasion.  Six  o'clock  was  the  hour  appointed  for  the 
dinner,  but  it  was  a  quarter  past  seven  before  the  company  sat 
down.  The  dining  hall  was  decorated  with  flags  and  tri-color 
festooning. 


8  SKETCH     OF     liViiXTS     IN 

At  the  back  of  the  chair  was  a,  model. of  the  Illinois  steam 
ship,  and  another  of  the  yacht  America,  surmounted  by  the 
name  "  George  Law/'  in  large  red  letters  upon  a  white  ground  ; 
and  immediately  above,  the  name  of  "  Robert  Fulton,"  in  black 
letters  upon  a  white  ground.  At  the  opposite  side  of  the  room 
was  the  name  of  "  Henry  Eckford,"  also  in  black  letters  upon  a 
white  ground,  with  pink  border  ;  and  underneath  it  in  immense 
white  letters  upon  a  deep  crimson  ground,  the  word  "  Oregon," 
and  beneath  it  a  beautiful  model  of  the  Georgia,  George  Law's 
favorite  steamship.  The  tables,  with  covers  for  about  three 
hundred  persons,  presented  a  magnificent  appearance.  Messrs. 
Coieman  &  Stetson  had  a  carte  blanche  to  provide  without  limit, 
whatever  could  give  zest  or  eclat  to  the  feast,  and  the  fancy  of 
Apicius  would  have  been  puzzled  to  call  for  a  luxury,  edible  or 
bibible,  that  was  not  ready  for  his  palate.  It  was  a  culmination 
of  the  glories  of  the  wine  cellar,  and  the  cuisine,  worthy  of  the 
providers  and  the  partakers.  Among  the  splendid  confection 
ery  ornaments  were  a  model  of  the  Panama  Railroad,  and  the 
humble  house  in  which  George  Law  was  born. 

At  the  head  of  the  table,  on  the  right  of  the  President,  Isaac 
Newton,  Esq.,  sat  the  guest  of  the  evening,  George  Law,  Esq.; 
the  Hon.  W.  Tucker,  Philadelphia  ;  J.  A.  Westervelt,  Judge 
Bosworth,  General  Sandford,  Secretary  Morgan,  (State  of  New 
York  ;)  G.  C.  Benedict  and  Dr.  J.  R.  Wood.  On  the  left  of 
the  President,  Wm.  H.  Webb,  Hon.  J.  E.  Edsall,  ex-Recorder 
Talmadge,  Judge  Woodruff,  the  Minister  to  New  Granada, 
W.  H.  Aspinwall,  and  J.  L.  Stephens.  At  the  foot  of  the  table, 
the  First  Vice  President  was  J.  Dimon  ;  Second  Yice  Presi 
dent,  H.  A.  Hurlbut  ;  Third  Yice  President,  E.  F.  Purdy. 

Among  the  distinguished  gentlemen  in  the  body  of  the  room, 
we  noticed  John  Yan  Buren,  James  Murphy,  (Fulton  Iron 
works  ;)  Hon.  John  MeKeon,  Col.  Stebbins,  Capt.  Yincent, 
Capt.  Stone,  Major  Sandford,  James  T.  Brady,  Alderman 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE    LAW.  49 

Tweed,  Edwin  Crosweil,  Col.  Delavan,  Alderman  Smith,  Alder 
man  ComptoQ  (President  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,)  Alderman 
Cornell,  Prosper  M.  Wetmore,  Col.  Richard  M  Hoe,  ex- Alder 
man  James  Kelly,  Marshall  0.  Roberts,  Inaac  V.  Fowler,  Esq., 
Alderman  Brisley,  Hon.  E.  Y.  R.  Wright,  of  New  Jersey, 
Assistant  Alderman  Brown,  Alderman  Ring,  Alderman  Doherty, 
Augustus  Conover,  Esq.,  Thomas  Farron,  engineer,  George 
Sanders,  of  the  Democratic  Review,  Oliver  Charlick,  C.  A. 
Dana,  T.  E.  Tomlinson,  &c. 

An  assemblage  altogether  so  striking  we  have  seldom  before 
witnessed.  It  was  a  concentration  of  enterprise,  talent  and 
intellect,  gathered  from  the  pursuits  that  most  distinguish  our 
country  and  age — the  merchant,  the  mechanic,  the  inventor,  the 
capitalist,  the  jurist,  the  man  of  ideas  and  types — brave,  hard- 
workers  all — and  the  scene  was  profoundly  inspiring  of  noble 
pride  in  our  city,  our  country  and  our  race.  It  was  a  grand 
combination  of  the  elements  of  modern  civilization,  power  and 
progress. 

Subjoined  from  our  own  notes  and  the  reports  of  our  morning 
contemporaries,  we  give  such  epitome  of  the  proceedings  as  our 
space  will  permit.  The  speech  of  the  guest  of  the  evening, 
George  Lav/,  we  have  quoted  in  full.  Replete  with  sound 
sterling  sense,  it  was  received  with  merited  applauser,  and  will 
be  read  with  deep  interest.  The  ideas  and  experiences  of  the 
men  who  pioneer  the  greatest  enterprises  of  the  age,  are  lessons 
worthy  of  study.  Mr.  Law  wasted  no  words  in  idle  rhetoric. 
His  utterance  -was  unstudied,  compact,  weighty  ancl  to  the 
point — like  the  sledge-hammer  blows  that  shape  the  cranks  and 
shafts  of  his  matchless  steamers.  He  had  an  inexhaustible 
therne,  and  inexhaustible  ideas  to  develope  and  illustrate  it. 
But  we  leave  him  to  the  reader.  Other  speakers,  to  whom  we 
must  more  briefly  allude,  did  themselves  and  the  occasion  honor. 
The  letters  from  persons  invited  but  unable  to  participate  in  the 

£h  ••'•},.  l  r  L 

3 


5CJ  SKETCH     OF    EVENTS     Itf 

dinner,  read  with  good  emphasis  by  Gen.  Mather,  we  publish 
exclusively.  They  swell  the  tribute  paid  to  American  enter 
prise,  talent  and  integrity. 

Upon  the  removal  of  the  cloth,  the  great  business  of  the 
evening  commenced. 

The  President.  ISAAC  NEWTON,  Esq.,  rose  and  said  : 
"  Time  and  oft  repetition  has  sanctioned  the  custom  of  making 
appropriate  acknowledgments  to  those  engaged  in  the  useful 
employments  and  avocations  of  civilized  life.  The  men  who 
htve  excelled  in  the  administration  of  government — in  the  prac 
tice  of  the  law— in  successfully  guiding  the  armed  hosts  of  the 
nation  in  the  warrior's  field,  or  doomed  the  foe  to  ocean's  grave 
-—and  men  successful  in  the  development  of  the  resources  of 
nature  and  the  perfection  of  mechanics,  have,  from  time  to  time, 
been  honored  by  their  fellow  citizens  with  public  demonstration 
of  their  approbation  and  admiration.  Admonished  by  these 
time-honored  examples,  a  number  of  the  artizans  and  mechanics 
— men  in  commercial  and  mercantile  pursuits  in  this  city — hav 
ing  witnessed  in  one  of  their  fellow  citizens  that  genius  in  design 
and  energy  of  purpose  in  executing,  so  necessary  to  the  deve 
lopment  of  our  resources,  the  perfection  of  our  mechanical  arts, 
and  the  enlargement  of  our  commerce,  at  home  and  abroad,  on 
the  land  and  on  the  sea,  thought  it  creditable  to  themselves  to 
make  some  acknowledgment  of  their  appreciation  of  his  valuable 
services  ;  and  they  have  felt  that  the  honor  was  more  especially 
due  to  this  individual,  because  his  success  in  the  various  pur 
suits  and  enterprises  in  which  he  has  been  engaged,  with  like 
honor  to  himself  and  his  country,  was  nnaided  by  high  and 
collegiate  advantages,  unsupported  by  patrimonial  wealth,  and 
in  the  absence  of  title  and  privileged  progenitors.  We  have 
gathered  together  to  honor  the  man  who  has  honored  the  occu 
pation  of  the  farmer  in  boyhood  and  youth— the  laborer  and 
constructor  of  canals  in  early  manhood  —  the  designer  and 


THE    LIFE     OF     GEORGE    LAW.  51 

builder  of  our  finest  bridges  and  railroads,  our  fleetest  and 
noUest  steamers,  before  the  prime  of  life  has  wasted — the  man 
who  has  extended  his  influence  from  the  small  limits  of  the 
farmyard  over  continent  and  ocean.  And  while  thus  honoring 
industry,  perseverance,  energy  and  genius  in  our  guest,  we  can, 
with  confidence  and  pride,  say  to  the  farmer  boy,  the  appren 
tice,  the  sons  of  the  humblest,  that  in  this  glorious  country  the 
portals  of  fame  and  honor,  in  every  pursuit  of  life,  worthy  of 
man's  aspiration,  are  wide  open  to  industry,  application  and 
energy"  (Applause.) 

The  President  concluded  by  giving  the  following  toast,  which 
was  duly  honored  : 

"  The  President  of  the  United  States."    Music— "  Hail  Columbia." 

At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings,  a  number  of  ladies  were 
admitted  behind  the  head  table,  and  contributed  by  their  pre 
sence  to  add  a  feature  of  interest  to  the  proceedings. 

General  MATHER  read  the  following  letters  of  invitation  from 
Washington  Hunt,  Ambrose  C.  Kingsland,  Daniel  S.  Dickinson, 
Samuel  Houston  (with  a  sentiment),  George  Ashmuu,  George 
Briggs,  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Luther  Bradish,  Ernanuel 
B.  Hart,  M.  C.  Perry,  A.  Ingraham,  Thomas  S.  Bocock,  James 
Bishop,  and  others  : — 

From  Gen.  Cass,  U.  S.  Senator,  of  Michigan. 

WASHINGTON,  May  18,  1852. 

grR; While  I  thank  you  for  an  invitation  to  the  dinner  which  the  friends 

of  Mr.  Law  propose  to  give  to  him  on  Thursday,  as  a  token  of  their  high 
appreciation 'of  his  enterprise  and  services,  I  am  compelled  to  decline,  in 
consequence  of  the  necessity  of  attending  to  my  duties  here.  But,  though 
absent,  I  unite  with  you  in  those  sentiments  which  promote  this  tribute  of 
acknowledgment  to  one  who  has  done  honor  to  his  country  by  an  enlarged 
spirit  of  enterprise. 

I  am.  Sir,  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant  LEWIS  CASS. 

To  JOHN  DIMON,  Esq. 


52  SKETCH     OF     Ev'KisTS     18 

Pnm  H.  Fish,  U.  S.  Senator,  of  New  York. 

WASHINGTON,  May  ISrn,  1853. 

GEXTLEMEX, — I  am  this  day  favored  with  your  very  polite  invitation  to 
attend  the  dinner  proposed  to  be  given  ou  the  20th  inst.,  by  his  friends,  to 
George  Law,  Esq.,  in  token  of  their  appreciation  of  his  energy  and  talents. 
I  regret  that  my  duties  here  will  put  it  out  of  my  power  to  be  in  New 
York  on  the  day  proposed  for  your  dinner.  I  shall,  therefore,  be  unable 
to  unite  with  his  friends  in  the  demonstration  which  they  propose  to  the 
high  mechanical  skill  and  energy  exhibited  by  Mr.  Law. 

With  my  acknowledgments  of  your  kind  remembrance  of  me,  I  have 
the  honor  to  be  your  very-obedient  servant, 

HAMILTON  FISH. 
To  Messrs.  DIMON  &  CHARLICK. 

From  the  Hon.  T.  J.  Rusk,  Senator  from  Texas. 

WASHINGTON,  Hay  19,  1852. 

DEAR  Sra, — I  have  just  received  your  note  of  the  14th  inst.,  inviting  me 
to  a  dinner  to  be  given  to  George  Law,  Esq.,  at  the  Astor  House,  in  New 
York,  on  the  20th. 

I  regret  that  it  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  attend,  in  consequence  of 
my  official  engagements  here. 

I  am,  Sir,  very  respectfully  yours,  Tnos.  J.  RUSK. 

To  Mr.  JOHN  DIMON,  Chairman,  &c. 

wnaiik  ,:i-;».-ooU-.y  ^^iJldffT^T^.iiii^iil.-.J^^ii^I  .0  .[/•  ..itwli  .<"«' 
From  Hon.  James  Brooks,  of  New  York. 

WASHINGTON,  May  19,  1852 

Sin,— T  regret  that  I  have  not  received  in  season  your  note  inviting  me 
to  a  complimentary  dinner  to  George  Law,  Esq.,  to  reply  in  a  manner 
suitable  to  the  occasion. 

If  I  could  leave  at  this  time,  it  would  now  be  too  late  ;  lut  it  would 
have  given  me  pleasure  to  be  with  you  all,  and  to  express  the  high  appre 
ciation  1  have  of  the  signal  services  Mr.  Law  has  rendered  his  country 
and  the  mechanic  arts,  by  his  enterprise,  energy,  and,  I  may  add,  intelli 
gent  instinct,  as  to  its  needs  and  wants. 

Yours,  respectfully,  JAMES  BROOKS. 

To  JOHN  DIMON,  Chairman,  and  0.  CHARLICK,  Sec. 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  53 


-    .  ..^--i  -       •          •         •      »! 

From  ike  Hon.  John  C.  Mather  t  of  New  York. 

ALBANY,  May  18,  1852. 

GENTLEMEN,  —  I  am  in  receipt  of  your  favor,  requesting  my  presence  at 
a  dinner  to  be  given  in  your  city,  on  Thursday  next,  to  George  Law. 
Esq.  It  is  but  lately  that  enlightened  nations  huve  begun  to  honor  prac 
tical,  efficient  genius.  In  honoring  Mr.  Law,  you  but  carry  out  this  prin 
ciple,  for  he  is  a  living  exemplification  of  what  unassisted  energy  and 
talent  may  accomplish  in  a  free  land.  Our  institutions  —  the  very  spirit 
of  our  glorious  Constitution,  as  well  as  the  nature  of  our  country  —  favor 
the  development  of  individual  enterprise.  There  are  no  hereditary  pri 
vileges  —  no  titled  aristocracy  —  to  hedge  in  and  destroy  the  pursuits  of 
industry  ;  there  are  no  bounds  to  the  scope  of  labor,  and  Mr.  Law  proves 
to  us  that  there  are  no  bounds  to  its  success.  To  him  are  we  greatly 
indebted  as  a  State  —  to  him  your  nourishing  metropolis  owes  no  little  of 
its  worth  and  prosperity.  Though  compelled  to  dine  beyond  hearing 
of  your  greetings  and  your  toasts,  my  heart  responds  to  all  things  that 
are  said  and  done  to  honor  those  who  benefit  their  country. 

With  great  respect,  I  am,  yours  truly,  JOHN  C.  MATHER. 


From  Frederick  Follett,  Canal  Commissioner. 

STATS  OF  NEW  YORK  CANAL  COMMISSION  OFFICE, 
BATAVIA,  May  18,  1S52. 

JOHN   DIMON,    ESQ.,    CHAIRMAN. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Your  note  of  the  14th  inst.,  extending  to  me  an  invita 
tion  to  join  the  friends  of  George  Law,  Esq.,  in  a  complimentary  dinner 
to  be  given  at  the  Astor  House,  on  the  29th  inst.,  only  reached  me  to-day. 

I  regret  exceedingly  that  my  official  duties  are  such  as  to  forbid  the 
idea  of  my  being  present  on  the  occasion  referred  to. 

It  always  gives  me  pleasure  to  do  honor  to  the  self-made  man  of  our 
country,  for  in  doing  so  we  pay  the  highest  possible  tribute  to  the  ener 
getic  and  noble  institutions  of  our  Republic. 

The  character,  enterprise,  and  success  of  George  Law  are  an  instruc 
tive  lesson  to  mankind,  worthy  of  being  held  up  in  bold  relief  to  the 
young  men  of  our  country.  Let  them  pursue  and  study  it,  and  seek  to 
wreathe  their  own  brows  with  the  laurel  that  enriches  his. 

Hia  is  a  peaceful  fame,  but  none  the  less  glorious  because  won  upon 


54  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IN 

fields  unstained  by  the  blood  of  his  fellow-men.     I  have  a  high  regard  for 
his  character,  and  it  would  give  me  infinite  satisfaction  to  contribute,  per 
sonally,  my  appreciation  of  it,  but  for  the  reasons  before  stated.     I  beg 
of  you  to  tender  to  the  gentlemen  present  the  following  sentiment : 
"  The  friends  of  George  Law — honored  in  doing  honor  to  such  a  man." 
Your  obedient  servant,  FREDERICK  FOLLETT. 

Prom  Hon.  James  W.  Bedim  an,  of  New  York. 

STATEN  ISLAND,  May  20,  1852. 

DEAR  SIR,— I  received  this  morning  the  polite  invitation  with  which, 
by  your  kindness,  I  have  been  favored,  to  be  present  at  the  dinner  to  be 
given  this  evening  to  Mr.  George  Law. 

Although  not  able  to  accept,  I  am  not  the  less  obliged  to  you  for  your 
attention,  and  fully  agree  with  Mr.  Law's  many  friends  in  honoring  hia 
enterprise  and  public  spirit. 

Very  truly,  and  respectfully  yours, 

JAMES  W.  BEEKMAN. 
To  JOHN  DIMON,  Esq.,  Chairman. 

From  Hon.  Hugh  Maxwell,  late  Collector  of  New   York. 

NKW  YORK,  May  19, 1852. 

DEAR  SIR  : — Your  note  of  invitation  to  attend  a  complimentary  dinner 
in  honor  of  George  Law,  Esq.,  has  been  received.. 

I  entertain  a  high  regard  for  the  energy  and  talents  of  Mr.  George 
Law,  and  would,  on  all  occasions,  be  happy  to  express  that  regard. 

Absence  from  the  city,  at  the  time  of  the  celebration,  will  prevent  my 
being  present  at  the  day  indicated. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

HUGH  MAXWELL. 
To  JOHN  DIMOX,  ESQ. 

From  Hon.    IV.  J.  Me  Alpine,  of  New   York. 

ALBANY,  May  21,  1352. 
To  JOHN  Dnrox,  ESQ.,  Chairman. 

SfR : — On  my  return  to  the  city  last  evening,  T  found  your  invitation  to 
attend  a  complimentary  dinner  to  George  Law,  Esq. 
My  absence  has  prevented  me  from  meeting  you,  and  joining,  as  I 


THE    LIFE    OP    GEORGE    LAW  55 

should  have  been  gratified  to  have  done,  in  paying  respect  to  a  citizen 
who  has  added  so  much  to  the  character  of  the  American  mechanic  and 
merchant. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

WM.  J.  McALPiNB 


From  Hon.  J.  Hobart  Haws,  M.  C%  of  New   York. 

WASHINGTON,  May  22, 1852. 

GENTLEMEN  : — Your  polite  invitation  was  received  by  me  only  yester 
day,  having  been  absent  at  the  time  of  its  mailing.  The  compliment 
which  has  been  paid  to  Mr.  Law,  by  the  citizens  of  New  York,  was 
eminently  due  to  the  high  character,  and  distinguished  and  noble  enter 
prise  of  that  gentleman,  and  reflects  great  credit  upon  those  who  have 
thus  expressed  their  appreciation  of  his  energy  and  talents. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.  H.  HOBAUT  HAWES, 
JOHN  DIMON  ESQ.,  Chairman, 


From  Mayor  Kingsland,  of  New  York  city, 

MAYOR'S  OFFICE,  May  19, 1852. 

DEAR  SIR  : — I  am  in  receipt  of  your  polite  invitation  to  attend  the 
dinner  to  be  given  to  George  Law.  Esq.,  by  his  fellow  citizens,  in  token  of 
their  high  appreciation  of  the  benefit  which  this  city  has  derived  from  his 
energy  and  talents  as  a  mechanic. 

I  join  heartily  in  the  objects  of  this  festival,  and  know  no  gentleman  to 
whom  such  manifestation  is  more  justly  due  than  to  Mr.  Law,  and  would 
gladly  pay  my  personal  testimony  to  his  worth  and  services  by  being  pre 
sent  on  that  occasion. 

I  regret,  however,  that  an  engagement  for  to-morrow  evening  will 

deprive  me  of  the  pleasure  of  joining  you ;  and  with  my  best  wishes  for 

the  continued  prosperity  of  the  worthy  recipient  of  your  intended  honors, 

and  my  regards  to  the  gentlemen  who  have  favored  me  with  the  invitation, 

I  am,  sir,  yours,  truly, 

A.  C. 
O.  CHARLICK,  ESQ. 


56  SKETCH     OF 


';nol»  $-.'    ,  o;  feSa^n^  a'^oJ  ,-V;HA  ijlffojin 
From   Governor  Hunt,  of  jYeiu   York. 

ALBANY,  May  19,  1862. 

DEAR  SIR  : — It  would  give  me  pinch  pleasure  to  unite  with  you  in  the 
complimentary  dinner  to  George  Law,  Esq.,  if  it  were  practicable.  But 
my  official  engagements  make  it  impossible  for  me  to  accept  your  kind 
invitation.  The  energy  and  force  of  character  which  he  has  displayed  in 
forwarding  useful  public  enterprises,  deserve  the  highest  appreciation. 
Very  respectfully,  yours, 

WASHINGTON  HUNT. 
JOHN  DIMON,  Esq.,  Chairman,  &c. 

From  Hon.  D.  S,  Dickinson,  of  New   York. 

BINGHAMPTON,  May  17,  1852. 

GENTLEMEN  : — As  I  was  about  leaving  home  this  morning  to  fulfill  a 
business  engagement,  I  received  a  polite  note  inviting  me  to  unite  in  a 
complimentary  dinner  given  to  George  Law,  by  his  numerous  friends,  as 
a  testimonial. of  regard  for  his  character,  and. the  benefits  his  enterprises 
have  conferred  on  the  country.  Entertaining  a  high  regard  for  the  char 
acter  of  this  distinguished  gentleman,  it  would  afford  me  much  pleasure 
to  atjtend ;  bat  time  is  not  allowed  me,  and  I  can  only  thank  you  for  your 
civility,  and  subscribe  myself, 

Yours  truly, 

D.  S.  DICKINSON. 
JOHN  DIMON,  ESQ.,  Chairman. 


From  General  Houston,  of  Teras. 

WASHINGTON,  Slay  18,  1852. 

MY  DEAR  Sm  : — Yvrith  pleasure  I  acknowledge  your  kindness  in  for 
warding  me  an  invitation  to  a  "complimentary  dinner,"  to  be  given  by 
the  citizens  of  New  York,  at  the  Astor  House,  on  the  20th  instant,  to 
George  Law. -E?qv  It  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  be  present  on  the  occasion, 
as  the  press  of  official  business  will  require  ray  attendance  in  the  Srnate. 
The  esteem  which  I  entertain  i'or  Mr.  Law  as  a  man,  united  with  my  admi 
ration  of  him  as  an  enterprising  citizen,  would  induce  my  attendance  if  it 
were  possible.  It  must  be  by  the  enterprise  of  such  men  that  our  com- 


THK.LTFS     OF.GiiOKGE     LAW.  57 

mercial  character  is  to  be  advanced,  and  our  national  resources  developed. 
I  forward  a  sentiment — 

George  Law — National  enterprise  deserves  national  gratitude. 

I  am.  with  sincere  regard, 

SAM  Huni-ox. 
O.  CHARLTCK.  Esq.,  Secretary,  &c.,  New  York. 

From  Hon.  L.  Bradish,  of  New  York. 

^FS'ICK  OF  ASSISTANT-TREASURER  OF  UNrrwt  STATES, 
NKW  YHRK,  May  19,  1852. 

I.'.    I  •&   '^\l    ,;W?   '«*>: 

JOHN   DIMON,  ESQ.,  CHAIRMAN. 

Sin, — I  am  this  day  favored  with  your  note  of  the  14th  inst.,  inviting 
me  to  a  complimentary  dinner  to  be  given  to  George  Law,  Esq.,  at  the 
Astor  House,  on  Thursday,  the  20th  instant,  and  regret  exceedingly  that 
my  indispensable  engagements  will  not  permit  me  the  high  gratification 
BO  obligingly  offered  me  in  your  kind  invitation. 

With  a  request,  therefore,  that  you  will  be  pleased  to  receive  for  your 
self,  and  communicate  to  those  you  represent  on  this  occasion,  my  cordial 
and  due  acknowledgments  for  your  flattering  invitation,  and  the  expres 
sion  of  my  sincere  regrets  that  I  cannot  avail  myself  of  it,  I  remain,  sir, 
with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant,  L.  BRADISH 

From  the  Hon.  George  Jlshmim,  of  Mass. 

ASTOR  HOUSE,  May  20,  1852. 

g1R; — I  regret  very  much  that  the  necessity  of  my  return  to  Massa 
chusetts  prevents  me  from  accepting  the  invitation  to  dine  to-day  with  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Law. 

I  entertain  for  that  gentleman  feelings  of  the  highest  regard,  and  know 
no  one  more  deserving  of  such  a  compliment  as  his  friends  propose. 

Very  respectfully  yours,  GEO.  ASHMUN. 

JOHN  DIMON,  Esq. 

From  the  Hou,   George  JBriggs,  Jlf.  C.,  of  New  York. 

HOUSB  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  U.  S.,    May  19,  1852. 

Sin— I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  favor  of  the 
14th  instant,  inviting  me  to  attend  a  dinner  to  be  given  to  George  Law, 
Esq.,  at  the  Astor  House,  on  the  20th  instant.  It  would  afford  me  great 

3* 


68  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IS 

pleasure  in  being  present  on  that  occasion  of  doing  honor  to  our  distin 
guished  and  enterprising  fellow-citizen,  George  Law,  Esq.  who  from  his  past 
career  has  done  so  much  to  reflect  credit  upon  the  American  character,  that 
deserves  well  this  mark  of  your  approbation.  I  regret  iny  public  duties 
compel  me  to  decline  accepting  your  kind  invitation. 

Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,          GEORGE  BRIGQS. 
O.  CHAKLICK,  Esq.,  Secretary. 

From  Commodore  M.  C.  Perry. 

NEW  YORK,  May  18,  1852. 

GENTLEMEN— I  very  much  regret  that  a  previous  engagement  at  dinner 
on  Thursday  the  20th  instant,  will  deprive  me  of  the  pleasure  of  accepting 
your  invitation  for  that  day. 

Nothing  could  have  given  me  greater  satisfaction  than  to  have  been 
able  to  join  in  doing  honor  to  Mr.  George  Law,  one  to  whom,  as  you  justly 
say,  the  city  and  country  at  large  are  deeply  indebted  for  the  extraordi 
nary  skill  and  energy  with  which  he  has  conducted  some  of  the  most 
important  enterprises  of  the  day. 

With  great  respect,  I  am,  gentlemen,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

M.  C.  PERRY. 
JOHN  DIMON,  Esq.,  for  the  Corn,  of  Arrangements. 

From  the  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher 

BROOKLYN,  May  10,  1S55. 

JOHN  DIMOX,  Esq  : — Dear  Sir — I  regret  that  I  am  called  away  from  town 
to-day,  and  shall  be  deprived  of  the  pleasure  of  testifying  personally  my 
respect  for  the  services  of  the  gentleman  to  honor  whom  you  have  assem 
bled. 

It  is  a  pleasant  and  auspicious  token  of  progress  of  public  sentiment  in 
the  right  direction,  that  so  many  civic  testimonials  are  awarded  to  men 
y^ho  have  no  ostentatious  victories,  but  who  have  won  universal  attention 
by  persevering  or  ingenious  contributions  to  the  public  good,  in  the  devel 
opment  of  its  material  treasures. 

Mr.  Law  has  connected  his  particular  interests  with  the  public  good  ; 
and  while  he  has  lawfully  and  honorably  advanced  himself,  he  has  done  it 
in  a  way  that  has  greatly  enriched  multitudes,  besides  given  an  impulse 
and  facilities  to  universal  commerce,  and  added  another  branch  to  the 
tree  of  his  country 's  glory. 


:o. 


THE     LIFE     OF     QEORGK     LAW.  59 

There  are  cases  in  which  I  should  feel  desirous  of  celebrating  military 
achievements,  but  they  are  rare,  and  growing  yearly  more  infrequent 
This  is  the  age  of  labor,  and  of  moral  advancement,  and  the  true  devel 
opment  of  the  former  will  be  found  so  conducive  to  the  latter,  that  the 
Inventor  and  mechanic  must  be  regarded  as  eminent  civilizers  and 
reformers.  They  who  originate  ideas,  and  those  who  invent  modes  of 
almost  instantaneous  and  immense  diffusion  of  them,  rank,  if  not  equally, 
yet  near  together.  Those  who  develop  commerce— building  clippers  so 
fleet  as  to  put  the  winds  out  of  breath  in  keeping  up  with  them-^-steam- 
Bhips  that  empty  towns,  and  bear  their  population  round  the  globe  to 
foand  new  cities  in  a  day  ;  immense  engines  that,  in  the  face  of  storms 
and  waves,  roll  around  the  ponderous  wheel  with  the  constancy  of  tho 
earth  upon  its  axis ;  the  benefits  of  such  services  are  not  confined  to  the 
sea,  or  to  the  commercial  cities  that  wash  their  feet  by  the  sea-side. 
They  are  felt  in  the  whole  agricultural  realm ;  they  rouse  up  the  shop, 
and  reflexly  they  bear  upon  the  interests  of  science,  of  general  intelli 
gence,  and  of  morals. 

I  submit  to  your  consideration  a  sentiment : — 

"  Without  expressing  any  opinion  upon  the  merits  of  higher  law  or  lower 
law,  we  are  firm  believers  in  George  Law." 

I  am,  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

HENRY  WARD  EEECHEK. 

From  James  Bishop,  Esq. 

NEW  YORK,  May  20,  1852. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  this  morning  received  your  invitation,  as  Chairman  of  the 
committee  on  a  complimentary  dinner  to  George  Law,  Esq.,  and  very 
much  regret  that  a  previous  engagement,  distant  from  the  city,  obliges  me 
to  leave  this  afternoon. 

I  am  happy  to  be  numbered  among  those  who  are  called  upon  to  honor 
such  a  character  as  George  Law— a  character,  as  your  note  well  remarks, 
emphatically  American  ;  and,  in  my  judgment,  whoever  honors  the  man, 
honors  the  country  of  his  birth. 

With  my  best  wishes  for  Mr.  Law's  continued  health  and  prosperity, 
and  my  regards  to  the  committee,  I  remain  truly  yours, 

JAMES  BISHOP. 

JOHN  DIMON,  Esq.,  Chairman. 


60 


SKETCH    OF    EVENTS    IJt 


From  Hon.  E.  B.  Hart,  M.  C.,    of  J\rew  York. 


HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  WASHINGTON,  May  19,  1S52. 

GENTLEMEN. — I  should  be  deeply  gratified  if  I  could  be  present  at  the 
dinner  which  the  friends  of  George  Law,  Esq.,  propose  giving  him  on  the 
20th  instant,  and  to  which  you  do  me  the  honor  to  invite  me  ;  but  my 
public  duties  here  will  prevent  me.  I  know  Mr.  Law  intimately  and  well. 
No  mail  has  studied  his.  history  more  thoroughly  than  I  have  5  and  no 
man  has  beeu  more  fully  impressed  by  the  great  advantages  his  energy, 
his  enterprise,  and  his  courage  as  a  business  man,  have  conferred  upoj 
society  at  large.  He  possesses  an  extraordinary  intellect,  and  his  example 
and  career  are  agreeable  and  inspiring  to  the  American  mechanic.  Begin 
ning  life  unfriended  and  unaided,  save  by  those  great  elements  of  char 
acter  which  have  made  all  leading  minds  great,  he  toiled  along  a  most 
difficult  pathway,  and  has  finally  achieved  the  mastery,  when  Others, 
"better  educated'7  in  the  schools,  have  faltered  or  failed.  More  than  one 
great  improvement,  conferring  benefits  and  blessings  upon  thousands, 
attests  the  sagacity  and  the  safety  of  his  views.  One  of  the  first  to  see 
the  opening  wealth  of  California,  he  threw  himself  into  the  forefront  of  a 
contest  for  the  carrying  trade  of  that  wondrous  El  Dorado,  and  conferred 
and  confers  advantages  upon  countless  communities  of  men.  It  is  to  such 
men  a?  Law  that  we  must  confide  the  glorious  task  of  unsealing  the  now 
impenetrable  regions  of  the  far  distant  East,  if  we  would  realize  in  the 
future  the  advantages  of  a  commerce  unapproachable  by  any  event  in  the 
whole  world's  past  history. 

For  Mr.  Law's  personal  character,  I  entertain  high  admiration.  He  is 
the  friend  of  the  honest,  industrious  man,  always.  His  heart  and  his 
hands  are  alike  open  to  the  calls  of  benevolence.  He  deserves  to  be  rich, 
for  he  would  use  his  self-earned  wealth  to  help  our  great  city,  and  to 
relieve  the  wants  of  the  poor.  Allow  me  to  send  you  the  following  sen 
timent,  which  I  ask  you  to  drink  in -flowing  bumpers  : 

Geor-e  Law— While  the  Ci-oton  refreshes  the  masses  of  New  York,  and  the  great  deep 
carries  into  her  harbors  the  treasures  of  California,  we  cannot  forget  the  man  whose 

zrgy  ccmpletPd  one  great  work  of  art,  and  whose  intellect  pioneered  the  way  to  a  com- 
se  as  sudden  in  its  rise,  and  rapid  in  its  extension,  as  it  promises  to  be  permanent  and 
prosperous. 

I  am,  with  great  respect,  very  truly  yours, 

E.  B.  HABT. 
To  JOHN  Daws,  Esq.,  Chairman,  and  O.  OHARUOK,  Esq.,  Secretary. 


THE    LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  61 

From  the  Hon.  T.  S.  Bocock,  of  Virginia. 

ASTOR  HOUSK,  NEW  YORK,  May  19,  1S52. 

GENTLEMEN,— I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge,  in  behalf  of  my  friend, 
Mr  Kdmundson,  and  myself,  the  receipt  of  your  invitation  to  attend  a 
dinner  to  be  given  at  the  Astor  House,  on  to-morrow,  in  compliment  to 
George  Law,  Esq.,  for  his  many  valuable  services  to^this  city,  and  to  the 
country  at  large. 

Our  arrangements  have  already  been  made  to  leave  New  lork  m  the 
morning,  and  we  regret  that  we  shall,  therefore,  be  deprived  of  the  plea 
sure  of  meeting  you  and  the  friends  of  Mr.  Law  on  the  occasion  referred  to. 
He  who  promotes  the  mechanic  arts,  or  advances  high  enterprises  of 
utility,  is  a  great  public  benefactor.  If,  in  other  times  and  in  other  coun 
tries,  such  men  have  not  met  with  due  appreciation  and  proper  reward, 
we  have  reason  to  hope,  that  at  this  time,  and  in  this  country,  it  is  other 
wise.  You  will,  at  any  rate,  have  shown,  by  this  testimonial,  that  you  are 
not  unmindful  of  the  obligation  which  rests  upon  you,  and  that  you  wili 
cherish  and  foster,  in  every  proper  way,  high  talent  and  strong  energy 
applied  to  the  practical  pursuits  of  life. 

%fou  gpeak  truly  when  you  say  that  we  do  «  but  honor  the  character  of 
American  citizens  in  doing  honor  to  such  men." 

I  offer  you  the  sentiment  expressed  below,  and  have  the  honor  to  be, 
very  respectfully,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

THOMAS  S.  BOCOCK. 

<;  The  City  of  New  York— In  extent  and  wealth  already  the  great  city  of 
the  American  continent,  and  soon  to  be  among  the  greatest  cities  of  the 
world  ;  but  may  it  find  its  real  greatness  in  its  noble  enterprises  and  its 
high  public  spirit." 

To  JOHN  DUION,  Esq.,  Chairman,  &c. 

From  Hon.  Jl.  IngraJiam,  Judge  of  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

NE-W  YORK,  May  20,  1852. 

OEOTLBMEX— Having  received  an  invitation  to  join  in  the  festivities  of 
a  dinner  party,  complimentary  to  George  Law,  Esq.,  I  assure  you  it  will 
afford  me  much  pleasure  to  make  one  of  the  number  on  an  occasion  so 
praiseworthy  in  it's  object. 

George  Law  is  one  of  those  rare  productions  whom  a  bountiful  nature 
brings  into  existence  only  after  long  intervals  of  time.  I  have  long 


62  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IN 

regarded  him  as  a  man  admirably  calculated  to  advance  the  interests  of 
the  community  in  which  ho  lives,  as  well  as  the  civilized  world.  Hia 
name  will  descend  to  posterity  with  honor  and  renown.  His  mind  is  of  a 
comprehensive  character,  and  though  the  more  ignorant  and  unthinking 
portion  of  the  community  may  associate  his  name  with  the  accumulation 
of  a  fortune  in  dollars  and'  cents,  if  I  rightly  understand  human  character, 
or  the  motives  of  men  of  expansive  intellects,  the  predominant  character 
istic  of  the  ruiud  of  George  Law  is  an  honorable  rwibition  to  leave  to 
posterity  the  evidence  of  his  usefulness  in  advancing  the  progress  of  this 
mighty  Union,  in  all  the  diversified  and  beneficial  pursuits  of  its  active 
and  intelligent  population. 

1  have  ever  regardeu  such  intellects  as  that  of  George  Law  as  being 
destined  to  fill  a  position  in  the  transactions  of  human  society  far  more 
important  than  that  of  the  mere  politician,  or  of  the  several  learned  pro 
fessors.  Able  men  in  those  callings  may  be  found  in  most  localities,  or  in 
many  sections  of  a  civilized  community;  but  a  George  Law  is  a  rare 
production,  whom  the  mere  educational  acquirements  of  civilized  life 
could  never  qualify  to  act  as  he  can.  The  plastic  hand  of  nature  has 
moulded  liis  intellect,  and  adapted  it  to  the  performance  of  grand  opera 
tions. 

Yours,  with  sentiments  of  respect,  A.  INGICAHAM. 

To  JOHN  DIMOX,  OLIVER   CHAKLICK,  t;t'"V 

and  others  of  the  Committee  of  Invitation. 

The  second  toast  was  : 

Our  honored  Guest,  George  Law— Successful  achievements  in  the 
mechanic  arts  attest  his  genius.  Energy,  enterprise  and  integrity  shed 
lustre  on  his  name.  Fame,  prosperity  and  happiness  to  the  man  whose 

personal  worth  has  elevated  the  character  of  our  country.     Air "  Life 

on  the  Ocean  Wave." 

Received  with  great  applause  and  cheers. 

Mr.  GEORGE  LAW  responded.  He  said— Gentlemen:  It  is 
twenty-six  years  ago  since  I  first  visited  your  city.  I  was  then 
on  my  way  to  Philadelphia.  Pennsylvania  was  about  com 
mencing  her  works  of  internal  improvement;  and  I  was  leaving 
the  State  of  New  York,  whose  works  of  this  character  were  bet- 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW. 


63 


tef  known,  and  in  which  I  had  been  engaged  myself.     In  Pennsyl 
vania  I  hoped  to  meet  with  less  competition  than  that  which  I  knew 
existed  in  your  State.  After  a  period  of  ten  years  I  returned  to  the 
State  of  New  York.     That  was  ia  1837,  and  I  have  resided  here 
ever  since.     I  returned  here  for  the  purpose  of  taking  part  in  the 
Croton  aqueduct,  which  was  then  about  to  be  constructed.     You  • 
had  then  mooted  a  proposition  for  the  construction  of  that  work. 
(Cheers.)     Prior  to  my  returning  to  become  a  permanent  resident 
of  your  State— of  my  own  native  State— I  had  usually  passed 
through  the  city  of  New  York  at  least  once  a  year.     I  think 
it  was*  in  1834  that  I  passed  through  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
the  building  which  we  are  now  in  was  in  progress  of  erection.     I 
then  looked  upon  it  as  to  its  proportions,  and  its  architectural 
design,  for  in  that  day  it  was  probably  the  largest  building  of  its 
class  in  this  country— if  it  is  not  at  present.     I  admired  the  perma 
nency  of  the  structure.     I  admired  the  architectural  design,  and  I 
supposed  that  this  was  all  the  interest  I  should  ever  have  in  the 
building.    I  did  not  suppose  that  I  was  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  hosts  to  whom  every  one  who  has  visited  them  is  so  much 
indebted.     (Applause.)     I  did  not  suppose  that  a  meeting  like 
this  was  to  assemble  here,  and  that  I  was  to  be  the  object  of 
that  meeting.     (Great  applause.)     I  believe  now,  gentlemen, 
that  you  have  a  higher  point  in  view,  and  I  believe  that  point  is 
to  bear  testimony  to  the  energy  of  character,  to  the  genius  and 
to  the  ability  which  has  brought  your  city  forward  to  the  position 
it  now  occupies.     I  attribute  no  such  thing  to  myself;  but  it 
belongs  to  you  all.    (Applause.)     The  honor  which  you  are  now 
conferring  on  me  is  one  of  those  honors  which  would  have  had 
much  inducement  for  me  when  I  first  passed  through  your  city, 
a  boy  of  eighteen.     (Cheers.)     If  I  could  then  have  looked  for 
ward  to  this  testimony,  if  I  could  have  looked  forward  to  this 
expression  of  your  regard,  how  much  would  it  have  done  to 
have  nerved   the  energies  of  my  character!     Aye,  if  I  had 


$4  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     O 

then  known  that  I  would  have  been  brought  forward — even  if  I 
had  no  natural  quickness  of  perception;  if  I  could  have  looked 
forward  and  seen  what  was  before  me;  if  I  had  seen  that  this 
would  have  happened,  it  would  have  been  an  inducement  to  me 
at  that  time,  which  would  have  dwelt  in  my  recollection  and 
carried  me  through  many  important  scenes,  and  many  trying 
ones,  where  almost  the  energies  of  man  had  faltered,  and  it  would 
have  brought  me  to  the  accomplishment  of  those  things  which  I 
have  never  yet  aimed  at.  (Applause.)  Such  is  the  effect  of 
the  appreciation  of  industry.  I  know  you  are  all  men  of  indus 
try.  I  know  that  in  this  hall  almost  every  pursuit  in  your  city 
is  represented — the  mechanic,  the  architect,  the  merchant,  and 
all  branches  of  business  are  here  represented.  I  know  that  it  is 
very  little  light  I  can  throw  upon  this  subject,  but,  notwithstand 
ing,  I  will  beg  your  indulgence  for  a  short  time.  (Applause.) 
Whatever  we  are,  we  owe  to  the  institutions  of  our  country. 
(Cheers.)  No  point  of  merit  can  we  reach  which  is  equal  to  the 
advantages  that  our  country  has  bestowed  upon  us.  (Applause.) 
The  institutions  which  place  us  all  on  an  equality,  which  strip 
the  mind  from  all  restraint,  which  allow  those  faculties  with 
which  nature  has  endowed  us  to  be  brought  forward  by  our 
own  energies,  these  institutions  enable  us  to  arrive  at  greatness. 

We  live  in  an  extraordinary  age.  In  looking  back  on  the  pro 
gress  made  within  this  century,  we  are  amazed  at  the  result.  It 
is  within  this  century  that  your  various  improvements,  giving  faci 
lities  to  intercourse  between  distant  parts  of  this  country,  have 
been  commenced  and  have  been  completed.  The  first  railroad 
in  this  country  was  commenced  in  or  about  1827.  The  first  that 
was  completed  was  about  1831  or  1832.  This  was  for  the  trans 
portation  or  passengers  and  freight  from  the  coal  mines  of  Penn 
sylvania  to  their  rivers. 

The  locomotive  engine  owes  its  birth  to  the  present  age.  It 
originated  in  about  1831  or  1832,  and  it  was  then  a  very 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW. 


C5 


nicle  thing.  It  was  hoped  to  attain  with  it  a  speed  of  some 
four  or  five  miles  an  hour,  but  it  has  now  advanced  to  a  speed  of 
forty  or  fifty  miles  an  hour;  and  this  does  not  excite  any  great 
decree  of  curiosity.  The  first  application  of  steam  to  the  propul 
sion  of  bcr.ts  was  also  within  the  present  century.  It  took  place  in 
about  1805  or  1806,  and  was  accomplished  by  your  own  fellow 
citizen,  Robert  Fulton.  (Great  applause.)  The  electric  tele 
graph  also  belongs  to  the  present  century.  We  trace  it  back  as 
far  as  Benjamin  Franklin.  It  was  with  his  kite  and  string — a 
Yankee  fixture  indeed— that  he  enlightened  the  world  with  elec 
tricity.  That  is  among  the  most  astonishing  inventions  of  the 
age  Your  Erie  canal  was  also  begun  and  completed  within  the 
present  century,  and  it  is  to  that  more  than  to  any  thing  else, 
this  country  owes  its  great  prosperity  in  internal  commerce. 
Another  of  your  citizens  has  immortalized  himself  within  the 
same  time.  I  mean  De  Witt  Clinton.  (Cheers.)  When  we 
view  these  improvements,  and  see  individuals  doing  what  we 
were  accustomed  to  see  States  do,  and  States  doing  what 
nations  were  supposed  to  do,  we  may  well  say  that  this  is  an 
astonishing  age.  (Repeated  cheers  and  Applause.)  The  great 
canal  which  connected  the  Nile  with  the  Mediterranean  was 
constructed  by  the  greatest  monarch  of  the  day,  or  rather  a 
series  of  monarchs.  They  did  not  know  how  to  join  the  Medit 
erranean  to  the  Red  Sea,  till  ingenuity  devised  a  lock  and 
joined  them,  and  thus  turned  the  commerce  of  Europe  into  the 
Mediterranean  ;  and  hence  arose  those  cities  of  commerce 
which  formerly  studded  the  Mediterranean.  They  made  their 
way,  step  by  step,  till  they  reached  Venice,  and  till  they 
reached  Spain,  and  till  they  reached  England.  And  now, 
gentlemen,  we  arc  looking  for  another  step,  and  I  can  foresee 
where  that  next  step  will  be— it  will  not  be  far  from  the  city 
where  we  now  live. 

The  Bomans  constructed  a  work  which  was  their  pride  and 


66  6KETCII     OP     EVENTS     IS 

boast  —  the  Appian  Way — the  great  military  road  leading 
from  the  Mediterranean  to  Rome.  Napoleon,  in  the  height 
of  his  power,  constructed  a  work  by  which  he  crossed  the 
Alps.  This  was  also  a  military  road  ;  but  these  were  works 
which  were  put  forward  and  accomplished  by  monarchs,  at  the 
head  of  mighty  empires  and  absolute  monarchies,  or  by  govern 
ments  such  as  the  government  of  Rome,  which  carried  its 
military  prowess  to  all  parts  of  the  earth  and  lived  on  the 
spoils  thereof.  (Applause.)  But  what  nerves  the  American 
people  to  great  improvements  at  the  present  day  ?  It  is 
not  for  military  conquest.  It  is  not  that  they  may  obtain  a 
victory  over  their  neighbors,  and  rob  them  of  their  living  and 
their  property  ;  but  it  is  that  they  may  establish  an  intercourse 
between  the  different  parts  of  our  Union,  that  we  may  carry  on 
our  commerce  and  exchange  the  commodities  of  our  manufac 
tures  and  agriculture,  by  which  we  know  there  is  more  to 
be  made  than  there  is  by  robbing  our  neighbors.  (Applause.) 
And  it  is  these  inducements  which  stir  up  the  American  people, 
and  lead  them  to  progress  so  rapidly  in  all  the  pursuits  which 
they  undertake.  It  is  from  these  that  they  are  entitled  to 
credit. 

•  Nature  has  bestowed  on  the  American  people  a  con 
tinent  such  as  no  other  people  on  the  globe  possess.  If  you  take 
the  great  outlets  cf  commerce  on  this  continent,  you  will  find 
them  to  be  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson,  the  mouth  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  the  mouth  of  the  Oronoco,  and  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon. 
The  last  two,  it  is  true,  are  not  in  that  state  of  progress  in 
which  are  the  first  two.  Probably  of  all  the  rivers  on  the  habi 
table  globe,  there  is  not  one  which  possesses  the  advantages  of 
agriculture  which  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  presents,  swept  as 
it  is  by  that  immense  river  and  its  tributaries  ;  running  north 
and  south — which  is  a  very  different  matter  from  running  east 
and  west — carrying  with  it  always  the  fruits  of  agriculture 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  67 

which  grow  from  50  deg.  of  north  .latitude  to  the  termination  of 
the  river  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Now,  if  you  take  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  and  the  Caribbean  Sea,  you  will  find  that  there  is  a  dis 
tance  of  about  two  thousand  miles  between  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  and  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon.  You  will  find  that 
within  that  circle  you  have  a  continent  011  one  side,  on  the  east, 
on  the  north,  aud  on  the  south,  and  that  you  have  these  two 
seas  enclosed  by  islands  running  from  Cuba  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Oronoeo.  Within  that  space,  then,  have  centered  more  facilities 
of  commerce  than  on  any  other  portion  of  the  globe.  There  are 
more  square  miles  swept  by  those  rivers  alone — the  Amazon  and 
its  tributaries,  the  Oronoeo  and  its  tributaries,  the  Mississippi 
and  its  tributaries — than  by  all  the  rivers  of  Asia,  Europe,  and 
the  Mediterranean.  (Applause.)  You  have,  then,  the  fruits  of 
all  climates  concentrated  within  that  space — where  the  bud,  the 
blossom,  and  the  ripe  fruit  grow,  at  the  same  time,  on  the  same 
tree. 

Now,  what  is  our  position  at  the  present  day,  in  respect  to  that 
part  of  the  country?  Why,  it  is  that,  right  in  the  centre  of  that 
sea,  where  all  these  facilities  of  our  commerce  exist,  you  have  more 
agriculture  than  on  any  other  portion  of  the  globe.  A  distance 
of  merely  forty-six  miles  intervenes,  till  you  cross  to  the  Pacific, 
and  then  you  sweep  the  western  shores  of  this  continent  for  a 
distance  of  seven  thousand  miles.  (Cheers.)  Now,  with  these 
communications  open  with  New  York  by  a  distance  of  even 
seven  days,  at  the  present  time — and  it  may  be  brought  nearer 
by  the  improvements  which  will  be  made — may  we  not  antici 
pate  that  New  York  will  be  the  next  port  in  which  the  great 
mart  of  our  commerce  will  be  located?  (Applause.) 

Here  you  cut  the  continent  in  two.  You  join  the  two  seas  by 
what  is  but  a  distance  of  forty-six  miles,  and  you  thus  save  a  dis 
tance  of  fifteen  thousand  miles — four  or  five  months'  difficult  navi 
gation — which  you  now  accomplish  in  as  many  hours.  (Cheers.) 


68  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IN 

Why  should  not  such  an  improYement  as  this  stir  the  hearts  of  the 
American  people,  and  make  them  look  forward  to  a  day  of 
progress  such  as  the  world  has  not  yet  seen,  nor  yet  consideder  ? 
(Applause.)  It  is  one  of  those  improvements  which  never  will 
be  appreciated  till  it  breaks  like  the  rays  of  the  morning  sun, 
without  a  twilight.  It  is  from  such  events  as  these  that  we 
have  reason  to  say  that  this  is  the  age  of  progress  and  of 
improvement.  Gentlemen,  what  has  been  the  cause  of  this 
improvement  ?  It  is  by  the  acquisition  of  California.  It  is  to 
that  gilded  daughter  of  the  Union  which  we  have  now  brought 
into  the  family  of  States,  that  we  owe  that  improvement,  for 
without  the  great  anxiety  of  our  citizens  to  go  there  and  partici 
pate  in  her  vast  gold  mines,  and  that  vast  enterprise  which  is 
going  on  there,  this  improvement  would  have  remained  dormant, 
and  in  that  state  to  be  talked  about,  as  it  was  for  a  period  of 
three  hundred  years.  It  has  been  written  upon,  considered, 
examined,  or  supposed  to  have  been  examined,  by  almost  every 
nation  in  Europe  ;  and  yet  it  was  all  nothing  but  talk.  (Laugh 
ter.)  And  there  sits  a  gentleman  who  is  well  acquainted 
— better  than  I  am — with  the  Isthmus,  who  is  one  of  the 
original  proprietors  of  that  road,  and  I  appeal  to  him  if  all  that 
has  been  ever  written  yet  on  the  subject  was  worth  the  paper  on 
which  it  was  written.  It  was  American  enterprise,  stimulated 
by  the  acquisition  of  California.  It  was  to  this  connection  of 
the  lines  of  steamers  carrying  passengers  between  here  and 
California  that  the  commencement  of  this  improvement  is  due. 
You  well  know  to  whom  I  allude.  I  mean  John  L.  Stephens, 
President  of  the  Panama  Railroad.  (Cheers.)  Now,  we  have 
at  the  table  another  gentleman,  who  has  just  undertaken  the 
contract  to  complete  the  balance  of  that  road.  (Cries  of 
"  Name,"  "  Name.")  I  mean  Minor  C.  Story,  of  Poughkeepsie. 
Gentlemen,  we  are  not  far  distant  from  an  acquisition  of 
those  advantages  which  we  desire  by  the  completion  of  this 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  69 

road.  What  are  the  advantages  to  commerce  which  the 
completion  of  this  road  will  be  the  means  of  conferring  on  this 
country — nay  on  the  human  family  ? — for  when  we  come  to 
place  money  in  the  balance  with  the  happiness  of  man,  it  is  a 
very  small  matter.  When  the  Atlantic  coast  shall  be  improved 
from  Cape  Horn  to  Yancouver's  Island — when  that  vast  region 
of  country  is  brought  into  agriculture,  and  when  the  spirit 
of  American  freemen  shall  run,  as  it  will  do,  from  pole  to  pole — 
then  we  may  well  congratulate  ourselves  on  the  advantages  it 
will  produce  on  the  comfort  and  improvement  of  the  human 
family.  Now,  when  you  look  from  this  point,  and  see  this  coun 
try  connected  with  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  with  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  with  the  Society  Islands,  with  Australia,  who  can  say 
what  immense  effect  it  will  have  on  the  commerce  of  this  country 
— leaving  out  China  and  Japan  ?  (Cheers  and  laughter.)  Much 
has  been  written  to  show  that  England,  by  the  way  of  Cape 
Horn,  is  nearer  to  China  than  we  are  ;  but,  let  me  ask,  why 
does  not  France  hold  more  communion  with  England  than  the 
United  States  does  ?  It  is  because  the  United  States  have  less 
population,  and  offer  more  inducements  for  foreigners  to  come 
here  and  settle  ;  land  is  much  cheaper,  our  institutions  are 
much  better,  and  our  country  confers  on  every  one  the  blessings 
of  good  government,  without  oppression.  Will  England  take  to 
her  shores  the  vast  population  of  China,  or  is  there  an  emigration 
from  China  going  to  England  ?  No  ;  it  has  already  begun 
with  us  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  The  Chinese  would  no 
more  go  to  England  than  the  English  would  think  of  emigrating 
to  France.  The  trade  of  China  must  be  with  the  United 
States — across  the  Pacific — and  it  is  because  of  these  advan 
tages  that  I  look  forward  to  the  day  when  we  will  see  the  com 
mercial  emporium  of  the  world  fixed  in  this  city,  or  at  least  on 
this  continent.  Gentlemen,  I  beg  you  to  excuse  me  for  making 
this  long  speech.  (Cries  of  "No,  no  :  go  on.")  Such  a  subject, 


70  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     Iff 

perhaps,  is  not  fit  to  be  discussed  at  a  banquet  like  this.  I  have 
no  words  to  express  my  acknowledgments  for  your  kindness, 
and  all  I  can  say  is,  that  my  course — if  you  approve  of  the  past 
— will  be  the  same  from  this  time  forward.  (Great  cheers  and 
applause.) 

The  next  regular  toast  was  : 

The  Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York.    Air— Governor's  March. 

The  following  toast  was  then  read,  and  received  with  great 

tdat. 

The  Producer,  the  Mechanic  and  the  Merchant — identified  by  mutual 
relations  and  mutual  interests — reciprocal  promoters  of  the  prosperity  of 
each  other,  and  all  eminently  contributing,  by  their  united  energies,  to 
the  permanency  of  our  glorious  Union.  Air — Yankee  Doodle. 

To  this  toast  T.  E.  TOMLINSON  responded.  He  eulogized  the 
noble  unity  of  toil — the  producer,  mechanic  and  merchant — as 
one  in  spirit  and  patriotism,  striking  the  barriers  of  the  age 
with  a  single  aim  and  to  a  single  end — the  progress  of  civiliza 
tion,  of  freedom  and  of  man.  They  were  beautiful,  each  ;  but 
trauscendently  beautiful  and  inspiring  when  they  were  aH  cen 
tered  in  one  man.  Such  a  man  he  saw  in  the  guest  of  the  even 
ing,  George  Law.  George  Law  was  a  type  of  this  glorious 
country.  The  merchant  neither  in  glorious  France  nor  in  the 
mother  country  (England)  could  rise  to  distinction  where  he 
was  born  in  the  lap  of  luxury.  The  producer  and  the  mechanic 
produced  the  merchant.  But  there  were  other  mechanics 
besides  the  sons  of  toil.  There  were  also  the  mechanics  of  the 
constitution  and  of  the  freedom  of  the  United  States,  who  gave 
scope  and  opportunity  io  the  mechanic  and  the  artisan*  to  work 
out  his  destiny  in  this  broad  land.  If  any  one  in  the  world 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  71 

deserved  the  title  of  nobility  it  was  the  producer,  for  he  created 
everything.  It  was  he  who  built  the  yacht  called  America, 
which  rode  triumphant  over  British  waters.  (Tremendous 
cheering.)  It  was  he — out  of  the  powerful  and  rich  combina 
tion  of  his  mind — who  cleared  the  Oregon.  (Immense  cheer 
ing.)  The  mechanic  stood  preeminent  in  their  affections  and 
regard.  It  was  a  mechanic— a  noble  child  of  this  great  repub 
lie — who  struggled  against  all  odds,  and  struggling  up  to  the 
altitude  of  a  man,  was  pouring  the  Atlantic  into  the  Pacific  in 
the  glorious  tide  of  American  commerce. 

Mr.  Tomlinson's  speech  was  the  eloquence  of  enthusiasm,  the 
inspiration  of  the  moment,  and  swept  like  the  apostrophe  of  the 
rapt  poet  over  vibrating  chords  in  every  heart.  His  tributes  to 
industry,  enterprise,  intellect,  and  to  the  possessor  of  them  all — 
Mr.  Law — were  received  with  great  applause. 

Mr.  Tomlinson's  speech  was  followed  by  the  fifth  regular 
toast :. 

The  City  of  New  York — The  sails  of  her  commerce  whiten  every  sea  ; 
her  warehouses  are  stored  with  the  products  of  every  clime  ;  may  her 
merchants  continue  lo  be  honorable  and  enterprising — her  mechanics  men 
of  worth,  science  and  skill,  and  her  motto  ever  "  Excelsior.'1  Air — Home, 
Sweet  Home. 

Ex-Recorder  TALL-MADGE  responded.  He  admired  nothing 
more,  than  the  resolutions  lately  passed  in  Tammany  Hall,  that 
instead  of  making  Presidents,  they  should  attend  to  their  proper 
business  ;  and  their  proper  business  was  to  encourage  the  enter 
prise  of  such  men  as  George  Law.  When  they  saw  him  knock 
ing  at  the  door  of  Congress,  he  asked,  could  they  feel  indifferent 
as  to  the  result  ?  Would  not  a  thrill  of  gratification  go  through 
their  hearts  at  the  success  of  the  mechanic,  the  farmer's  son — 
educated  in  that  little  hovel  (pointing  to  the  model  on  the 
table)  ?  Where,  he  asked,  was  the  individual  in  the  city  of 


72  SKETCH     OF    EVENTS     IN 

New  York,  who  could  congregate  such  a  collection  of  gentle- 
men — men  who  were  the  leading  merchants  in  a  commerce  that 
extended  from  the  Arimzou  to  the  Nile,  and  from  the  Mississippi 
to  the  Thames  ?  The  mind  and  genius  of  George  Law  were 
now  felt  upon  the  Panama,  Railroad,  which  united  the  Atlantic 
with  the  Pacific.  Mr.  Talhnadge  then  proceeded  to  give  a 
eulogy  upon  the  literary  character  of  John  L.  Stephens,  and 
concluded  by  proposing  the  following  toast  : 

The  health  and  success  of  John  L.  Stephens,  President  of  the  Panama 
Railroad. 

In  reply  to  this  toast  Mr.  Stephens  rose.  He  had,  he  said, 
been  called  upon  in  such  a  way  that  he  could  not  refuse  to 
respond.  In  reference  to  the  Panama  Railroad,  if  they  nad 
listened  to  Mr  Law,  any  tiling  he  could  add  would  out  weaken 
the  effect  of  that  he  had  so  lucidly  said  He  Mr  Stephens) 
had  not  the  honor  of  being  the  projector  of  that  railroad  It 
was  suggested  to  him  by  a  merchant  in  South  street  He  knew 
not  whether  he  ought  to/mention  the  name  ( Cries  of  "Give 
it.")  The  name,  then,  was  Mr  W  H  Aspinwall  ;  and  he 
would  not  have  obtruded  it  upon  them,  but  that  he  might  be 
under  the  imputation  of  arrogating  to  himself  merits  which 
belonged  to  another  He  might  tell  them  how  they  left  New 
York  with  a  single  engineer,  and  in  thirty  days  planted  the 
flags  of  the  survey  upon  the  Isthmus  ;  he  .might  tell  them  how 
they  passed  into  those  dreary  deserts  to  cut  their  way  from  sea 
to  sea,  and  climbed  to  the  highest  tree-tops  to  spy  out  the  path 
they  were  to  run  ;  he  might  tell  of  innumerable  difficulties  not 
only  there  but  here.  The  greatest  difficulty  they  had  to 
encounter  was  the  sin  of  unbelief.  But  when  all  despaired, 
their  friend  George  Law  put  his  shoulder  to  the  wheel  and 
carried  the  work  through  ;  and  he  was  happy  to  announce  that 
this  day  the  terms  of  the  contract  were  settled,  and  its  fulfill- 


THE     LIFE     OP     GEOIIGE     LAW.  73 

ment  was  guaranteed  by  George  Law.  There  were  competing 
enterprises  to  span  the  Isthmus,  but  there  was  room  and  reward 
for  all.  He  wished  them  all  success.  Mr.  Stephens  concluded 
by  proposing, 

Success  to  all  enterprises  which  are  to  connect  the  Atlantic  uad  Pacific 
oceans. 

Drank  with  applause. 

The  next  regular  toast  was  then  given  as  follows  : 

The  builders  of  the  New  York  steamships  and  steam-engines — To  the 
model,  strength  and  beauty  of  the  one,  the  perfection  and  finish  of  the 
other,  are  we  indebted  for  the  proud  position  wo  occupy  in  the  maritima 
rcorld.  Air—"  Hearts  of  Oak." 

Drank  with  enthusiasm. 

Mr.  WRIGHT  HAWKES  responded.  He  had  been  recently 
abroad,  where  he  was  in  a  position  to  appreciate  this  toast. 
He  could  not  describe  the  joy  he  felt  in  foreign  climes,  when  ho 
beheld  the  stripes  and  stars  of  his  country  waving  proudly  above 
the  models  described  in  the  toast.  This  was  an  age  of  progress 
in  steamships,  as  well  as  in  everything  else.  The  ancient 
Greeks  went  in  the  ship  Argo  in  pursuit  of  the  golden  fleece, 
and  did  not  find  it.  The  modern  Americans  go  for  it  to  Cali 
fornia,  and  bring  it  back.  He  thought  there  was  some  meaning 
in  the  mythological  fable  of  Ycnus  floating  in  a  shell.  In  those 
sunny  climes  now  floated  the  yacht  America,  which  beat  every 
thing  in  England,  beat  everything  in  the  Mediterranean,  and,  as 
he  was  informed  by  a  letter  he  had  recently  received,  was  about 
to  set  her  sails  for  the  Baltic  sea,  where  she  would  contend  for 
the  cup  of  Nicholas  of  Russia,  and  win  it,  too.  A  second  age 
of  poetry  has  dawned — the  poetry  of  the  useful,  which  the 
American  artisan  has  made  almost  equal  to  the  poetry  of  the 
fine  arts. 

The  next  regular  toast  was  : 

. 


74  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IN 

The  High  Bridge — An  enduring  memorial  of  intellectual  and  mecham 
cal  power,  which  reflects  alike  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  the  genius  of  man, 
the  annals  of  freedom  and  civilization  will  perpetuate  the  fame  of  the 
builder.  Air—"  Meeting  of  the  Waters." 

Alderman  MURPHY  responded  to  this  toast,  and  said  the 
High  Bridge  was  the  monument  of  George  Law.  It  was  such 
a  one  as  the  Queen  of  Sheba  had  never  seen  ;  and  if  she  did  see 
it,  she  would  say  the  half  had  not  been  told  her.  It  was  a 
monument  which  would  remain  when  that  of  Napoleon  would 
crumble  into  dust.  The  days  of  blood  and  heroes  were  gone. 
Liberty  was  progressing  and  would  progress  till  it  was  the  pos 
session  of  every  human  being. 

The  CHAIRMAN  proposed  the  eighth  regular  toast : 

The  Army  and  Navy.    Air — "  The  Star  Spangled  Banner." 

Gen.  SANDFORD  was  called  on  to  respond.  He  said  he  had 
hoped  some  member *of  the  army  would  have  been  called  on  to 
respond  for  that  gallant  corps  ;  but  he  should  feel  overwhelmed 
on  being  called  on  to  respond  for  the  navy  also.  He  repre 
sented  a  portion  of  the  army  which  was  composed  of  themselves 
— the  people.  The  deeds  of  their  gallant  army  were  recorded 
where  they  never  would  be  forgotten  ;  and  as  to  their  navy, 
where  had  they  not  carried  the  flag  of  the  United  States? 
Their  honors  were  written  in  colors  which  could  never  fade. 
The  mention  of  the  navy  reminded  him  of  the  connection 
between  the  ingenuity  of  their  mechanics  and  the  bravery  and 
skill  of  their  navy.  The  name  of  Henry  Eckford  was  associated 
with  the  most  brilliant  history  of  the  country — and  his  was  a 
name  which  did  honor  to  the  mechanics  of  the  land. 

The  next  toast  was  : 

The  Frees— Free,  like  our  glorious  Union— freemen  will  sustain  both 


THE'    LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  75 

-  To  this  toast  Mr.  CHARLES  A.  DANA,  one  of  the  editors  of 
the  Tribune,  responded  in  a  speech  which  might  well  be  charac 
terized  as  the  eloquence  of  thought.  The  men  of  the  press,  he 
said,  were  among  the  hardest  and  noblest  sons  of  toil.  Even 
while  we  are  enjoying  this  festive  occasion,  said  Mr.  Dana,  the 
toiler  of  the  press  is  transcribing  the  record  from  our  lips,  with 
pen  and  pencil,  while  in  yonder  building  busy  hands  are  trans 
ferring  it  to  type,  and  lightning  presses  are  striking  it  off  in 
sheets  that  will  lie  upon  our  breakfast  tables  to-morrow  morn 
ing,  and  be  flying  far  and  wide,  on  wings  of  lightning  and  steam 
to  the  world's  end.  The  press  was  a  mighty  agent  in  the  work 
of  progress,  and  faithful  to  its  trust — truth,  freedom,  humanity 
—above  any  other  element  of  the  world's  progress.  There 
were  deeds,  too,  connected  with  the  men  of  the  press,  unknown 
to  the  Avorld,  but  worthy  to  be  emblazoned  in  gold.  He  would 
not,  being  a  worker  of  the  press  himself,  call  the  silent  good 
deeds  of  his  profession  to  light — they  had  their  reward  ;  but  lee 
would  allude  to  a  deed  consonant  with  this  occasion.  A  distin 
guished  Hungarian  came  to  this  country  during  the  revolution 
of  1848.  He  came  on  a  mission  in  the  hour  of  hope  for  his 
fatherland.  Suddenly,  in  the  midst  of  hope,  fell  the  crushing 
news  of  the  fall  of  Hungary.  Walking  our  streets  the  day 
after,  overwhelmed  with  anguish,  he  met  a  friend  (Mr.  Dana)  ; 
they  clasped  hands  for  a  moment  in  silence.  At  length  the 
Hungarian  said,  "I  am  borne  down  with  a  double  grief ;  my 
country  is  fallen,  and  in  a  strange  land  I  am  indebted  to  an 
American  whom  I  can  no  longer  hope  to  repay."  "  What  is 
the  amount,  and  who  is  the  man  T'  asked  Mr.  Dana.  The 
Hungarian  replied,  "  One  thousand  dollars — George  Law  1" 
In  behalf  of  a  noble  cause,  asking  and  thinking  of  no  security, 
our  honored  guest  gave  quietly  and  unknown  a  thousand  dollars 
to  the  cause  of  struggling  liberty.  Such  deeds  were  above 
eulogy.  Mr.  Dana  closed  his  eloquent  speech  by  giving 


76  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IN 

The  health  of  Col.  Hoe,  the  inventor  of  the  Lightning  Press. 

Gen.  MATHER  was  called  for  and  made  a  short  speech,  which 
he  concluded  by  proposing — 

Senor  Vetoriana  Parades,  Minister  of  the  Republic  of  New  Granada — 
May  his  mission  to  the  United  States  be  the  means  of  strengthening  the 
happy  relations  now  existing  between  his  country  and  ours. 

In  response,  the  Chairman  read  the  following  :  "  Mr.  Parades 
returns  his  acknowledgments  for  the  honor  done  him,  and  begs 
leave  to  convey  his  regret  that  want  of  familiarity  with  the 
language  prevents  his  responding  in  the  terms  he  could  wish." 

Some  volunteer  toasts  were  then  proposed  and  responded  to, 
and  the  festivities  closed  at  a  late  hour — close  upon  the  "  noon 
of  night." 


HE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  77 


From  tli6  New  York  Express. 

THE     GRAPESHOT. 

THE  papers  generally  have  noticed  the  arrival  of  this  clipper 
with  Baker,  the  alleged  murderer  of  Poole,  on  board, — but  we 
do  not  see  that  they  have  fairly  stated  the  origin  of  this  voyage. 
It  is  well  known  that  this  beautiful  vessel  is  the  property  of 
George  Law, — and  although  he  does  not  regard  his  agency  in 
this  matter  other  than  a  clear  act  of  duty  as  a  good  citizen, 
and  not  of  any  special  credit,  still  as  we  are  personally  acquainted 
with  the  facts,  we  can  see  no  reason  why  they  should  not  be 
stated.  When  Justice  Stuart  ascertained  there  was  good  reason 
to  believe  that  Baker  had  fled  from  our  shores  on  board  a  vessel 
bound  to  the  Canaries,  he  applied  to  the  Mayor  for  advice  and 
assistance.  A  consultation  was  had,  and  it  appeared  that  the 
Mayor  had  no  power  to  hire  a  vessel,  or  incur  so  large  an  expense,' 
to  pursue  the  fugitive,  without  authority  from  the  Common 
Council.  Application  was  then  made  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States  for  a  Government  vessel,  and  in  this  state  of  the 
case  the  Justice  called  in  the  advice  of  Mr.  Law. 

From  the  best  source  of  information  it  was  evident  that  Baker 
had  escaped  in  a  vessel  now  several  days  at  sea — and  therefore 
it  was  supposed  it  would  be  necessary  to  employ  a  steamer. 
Upon  inquiry  no  steamship  was  found  in  port  that  could  be 
obtained,  and  thereupon  Mr.  Law  offered  the  Grapeshot  to  the 
Mayor  free  from  expense.  But  on  an  estimate  made  of  the 
actual  cost  ol  refitting  the  clipper,  &c.,  His  Honor  decided  that 


78  SKETCH     OE     EVENTS     IN 

lie  could  not  venture  to  send  her  at  bis  own  risk.  It  then 
appeared  that  the  prospect  of  capturing  the  fugitive  must  depend 
upon  the  ship  to  be  sent  by  the  Federal  Government.  Mr.  Law 
said  that  he  was  satisfied  the  government  had  no  vessel  that 
could  reach  the  Canaries  in  time,  even  if  they  had  one  that  was 
sea-worthy,  and  told  Mayor  Wood  that  he  would  cause  the 
clipper  Grapeshot  to  be  put  in  readiness,  provisioned  and  manned, 
ready  to  receive  the  police  officers  on  board  in  the  stream  by 
two  o'clock  the  next  day.  Mr.  Law  did  this,  and  selected  the 
best  captain  and  crew  that  could  be  obtained, — made  them  well 
acquainted  with  the  sailing  qualities  of  the  vessel,  and  directed 
them  to  put  her  through  the  water  at  the  top  of  her  speed.  The 
voyage  has  been  made.  The  Grapeshot  reached  the  Canaries 
ten  days  before  the  Isabella  Jewett,  thus  justifying  the  expecta 
tion  of  her  owner. 

This  voyage  and  capture  have  been  made  at  the  expense  of 
Mr.  Law;  and  it  is  evident  from  the  return  of  the  government 
ship,  that  the  administration  did  not  wish  to  reclaim  the  fugitive, 
or  had  no  vessel  fit  to  perform  a  voyage,  and  that  but  for  the 
prompt  determination  of  Mr.  Law,  this  criminal  would  have 
escaped. 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW  79 


From  the  Jersey  City  Tdegrapfi. 

"A  LITTLE  MORE  GRAPE  CAPT.  BRAGG." 

GEORGE    LAW   AND    PURSER   SMITH. 

As  the  Press,  in  every  section  of  our  country,  have  noticed 
the  affair  of  the  "  Grapeshot "  with  some  degree  of  admiration, 
for  the  handsome  manner  in  which  the  owner  of  the  clipper 
sacrificed  his  personal  interest  for  the  public  good,  we  are 
induced  to  call  their  attention  to  another  act  of  the  same  kind, 
which  occurred  a  few  years  since. 

It  will  be  remembered  by  our  readers,  that  the  Spanish 
authorities  of  the  Island  of  Cuba— under  pretence  that  a  certain 
purser  Smith,  an  officer  on  board  of  .one  of  the  Mail  Steamship 
Company's  vessels,  had  written  letters  for  the  American  journals, 
exposing  the  tyrannical  acts  of  the  Governor  of  the  Island,  and 
the  general  character  of  the  officers  in  command  there — gave 
notice  to  our  Government  that,  notwithstanding  their  treaties, 
no  vessel  should  enter  the  ports  of  Cuba,  having  that  obnoxious 
person  on  board. 

It  will  be  recollected,  also,  that  George  Law  and  others,  had 
purchased  of  Col.  Sloo,  a  contract  with  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  to  carry  the  mails  to  California,  with  instcactions 
to  stop  at  Havana,  and  that  a  treaty  had  been  made  with 
Spain,  which  authorized  the  mail  steamers  to  receive  and  dis 
charge  the  United  States  mails  at  that  city.  When  information 


80  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IN 

was  received  in  j^ew  York,  that  the  mail  steamer  would  not  be 
allowed  to  land  her  mails  at  the  port  of  Havana,  according  to 
treaty,  if  said  purser  Smith  was  on  board,  George  Law,  presi 
dent  of  the  Company,  wrote  to  the  Government  at  Washington, 
for  instructions  in  writing,  how  to  act  in  the  premises,  declaring 
that  he  was  willing  to  obey  any  written  instructions  on  the  sub 
ject,  and  leave  the  responsibility  of  the  cict  with  the  Administra 
tion. 

This  request  was  not  responded  to,  but  Mr.  Roberts,  agent  of 
the  line,  was  invited  to  visit  Washington,  to  confer  with  the 
officers  of  Government.  When  Mr.  Roberts  returned  to  New 
York,  he  reported  that  the  President  of  the  United  States  had 
given  the  Company  no  written  instructions,  but  had  verbally 
requested  him  to  dismiss  purser  Smith  from  the  steamer,  to 
please  the  Spanish  officials,  and  that  he  thought  it  was  for  the 
interest  of  the  Company  to  do  so. 

George  Law  declared  that  he  would  receive  no  orders  under  his 
contract  with  the  Government,  unless  they  were  given  in 
writing,  by  the  President,  or  proper  department — that  in  the 
absence  of  written  instructions,  purser  Smith  should  not  be  dis 
charged  from  the  vessel,  and  that  the  steamer  should  go  on  her 
voyage  at  the  "appointed  time. 

This  determination  of  George  Law  was  made  known  to  the 
President,  by  due  course  of  mail,  but  instead  of  written  instruc 
tions  to  the  Mail  Steamship  Company,  an  order  was  sent  to  the 
Post-Master  in  New  York,  by  the  Department,  to  withhold  the 
mails  from  the  steamer,  if  George  Law  persisted  in  sending  purser 
Smith. 

The  pusillanimous  Government  refused  to  send  the  mails,  or 
written  instructions  not  to  take  purser  Smith,  and  the  steamer 
was  fitted  for  sea.  The  Spanish  Consul  came,  as  usual,  with  his 
packages — which,  by  courtesy,  the  steamer  carried  for  him,  to 
Cuba,  free  of  charge.  Mr.  Law  informed  him  that  unless  the 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  81 

United  States  mails  were  placed  on  board  the  steamer,  uo 
Spanish  documents,  or  other  thing  from  the  Consulate,  would  be 
allowed  to  come  on  board,  inasmuch  as  the  courtesy  extended  to 
the  Spanish  Consulate  was  connected  with  the  contract  for  con 
veying  the  United  States  mails  to  Cuba. 

The  Consul  was  very  indignant,  and  declared  that  the  ship 
would  be  sunk,  if  she  dared  to  enter  a  Spanish  port  under  such 
circumstances.  He  was  told  that  the  Spanish  authorities  should 
have  an  opportunity  of  firing  into  the  vessel,  as  the  steamer 
would  go  to  Havana  under  treaty  stipulations  with  Spain,  and 
that  purser  Smith  would  be  on  board,  unless  written  orders  to 
the  contrary  were  received  from  the  President,  before  the 
appointed  day  for  sailing.  Mr.  Law  informed  his  associates 
that  the  treaties  between  the  United  States  and  Spain  were 
plain,  that  the  rights  of  the  Company  were  well  denned  therein, 
and  that  they  should  be  observed  as  far  as  his  contracts  were 
concerned.  That  he  was  willing  and  desired  to  take  the  risk 
and  responsibility  on  himself,  to  maintain  the  rights  of  a  citizen 
under  our  treaties,  even  to  the  sacrifice  of  the  steamer,  although 
it  was  evident  the  Government  had  abandoned  them. 

When  this  determination  of  Mr.  Law  was  made  known  to  the 
President,  he  became  very  much  alarmed,  and  expressed  great 
fear  that  the  redoubtable  Governor  of  Cuba  would  take  offence 
at  the  temerity  of  the  act  contemplated  ;  and  it  is-  understood 
that  he  wrote  to  the  collector  of  the  port  of  Xew  York,  to 
request  him  to  use  his  influence  with  the  Company,  to  prevent 
them  from  taking  so  fearful  a  step,  and  to  notify  Mr.  Law  that 
no  damages  would  be  allowed  to  him  by  our  Government  if 
the  steamer  was  destroyed.  r, 

Information  of  the  refusal  of  the  Government  to  send  the 
mails  by  the  steamer,  was,  at  the  same  time,  communicated  to 
the  insurance  offices,  and  they  accordingly  refused  to  insure  the 
steamer,  or  any  merchandise  placed  on  board  of  her. 


82  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IN 

These  obstacles,  interposed  so  pertinaciously  by  the  President, 
did  not  deter  Mr.  Law  from  pursuing  the  course  he  had  marked 
out  for  himself.  He  was  determined  to  send  the  ship  and  cargo, 
and  accordingly  took  upon  himself  the  risk  of  both,  by  insuring 
the  ship  and  all  her  lading,  and  issuing  his  own  policies  of  insu 
rance,  to  protect  the  owners  thereof.  This  course  of  action  on 
his  part,  placed  him  in  direct  hostility  to  the  captious  officials  of 
Cuba,  and  the  imbecile  Government  of  our  country.  Thus,  he 
could  count  upon  no  protection  from  either  ;  and  still  it  was 
perfectly  plain  that  he  was  acting  within  the  rights  he  had 
acquired  under  the  treaty  with  Spain. 

It  is  sufficient,  on  this  branch  of  our  subject,  to  say  that  the 
steamer  went  on  her  voyage  at  the  appointed  time,  without  the 
mails,. or  the  dispatches  of  the  Spanish  Consul,  and  with  purser 
Smith  on  board. 

Such  acts  as -these  show,  in  high  relief,  the  inefficiency  of  two 
successive  administrations,  when  placed  in  contrast  with  the 
conduct  of  a  bold  and  fearless  citizen,  who  understands  his 
rights,  and  the  interests  of  the  country,  and  is  willing  to  risk 
his  whole  fortune  to  maintain  them. 

Purser  Smith  was  a  poor  man,  and  dependent  upon  his  posi 
tion  on  board  the  steamer  for  means  to  support  a  large  family. 
He  was  an  honest  and  faithful  officer — had  been  guilty  of  no 
offence  under  our  laws  or  treaties  ;  and  Mr.  Law  would  not 
consent  to  allow  the  bullying  threat  of  the  Governor  of  Cuba, 
or  the  pusillanimous  course  of  our  own  administration,  to  send  a 
poor,  industrious,  and  honest  man  out  of  his  service,  unless  the 
President,  by  written  order,  would  take  the  responsibility  of  so 
mean  and  cowardly  an  act  upon  himself. 

The  Executive  was  conscious  the  act  could  not  be  justified 
before  the  country,  or  he  would  have  given  written  instruction  to 
dismiss  purser  Smith. 

Was  Mr.  Law  right  in  this  matter  ? 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  83 

"We  appeal  to  every  honest,  true-hearted  man  to  answer  this 
inquiry.  If  he  was  right,  and  to  maintain  the  right  was  com 
pelled  to  risk  his  whole  fortune,  what  must  we  say  of  an 
administration  that  will  thus  sneak  away  from  the  discharge  of 
its  duties,  and  abandon  the  interests  of  the  people  and  the 
honor  of  the  nation,  because  a  petty  Governor  of  the  Island  of 
Cuba  threatened  to  violate  a  treaty,  by  making  an  assault  upon 
a  mail  steamer  ? 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  President  to  take  care  that  our  treaties 
with  all  foreign  powers  be  faithfully  enforced.  It  is  to  enable 
him  to  do  this  that  the  army  and  navy  are  placed  under  his 
orders.  But  it  has  been  our  misfortune,  for  many  years  past,  to 
be  afflicted  with  Presidents  who  possess  no  energy,  decision, 
or  efficiency. 

Of  what  use  is  our  navy  in  the  Mediterranean,  where  the 
whole  trade  of  our  ^country  does  not  equal  the  charge  for  our 
naval  force  in  that  sea  ?  Why  not  call  home  those  ships,  to 
increase  our  home  squadron,  and  station  them  in  the  Caribbean 
Sea,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  around  the  Island  of  Cuba  ? 
Send  intelligent  and  active  commanders,  with  instructions  to 
return  blow  for  blow,  and  shot  for  shot,  to  any  insolent  Spaniard 
that  dare  molest  our  merchant  marine,  and  direct  them  to  make 
reprisals  instantly  for  any  robbery,  insult,  or  other  injury  that 
shall  be  perpetrated  upon  our  citizens. 

Is  not  this  the  way,  and  the  only  prudent  way,  to  deal  with 
such  a  nation  as  Spain  ?  Is  it  not  better  that  Spaniards  should 
seek  redress  from  us  for  a  few  well-directed  blows,  than  for  our 
weak  and  cringing  administration  to  keep  up  the  ridiculous  farce 
of  negotiation  to  obtain  redress  for  insults  offered  without  provo 
cation?  Is  it  not  more  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  our 
people,  to  return  the  blow  with  interest,  and  leave  them  to  seek 
redress  from  us  in  Washington  ?  A  firm  and  bold  course  on  the 
part  of  our  Executive,  will  preserve  the  peace;  but  a  truckling 


84  SKETCH     Off     EVENTS     IN 

policy  will  inevitably  lead  to  aggressions  on  the  part  of  the  inso 
lent  Spaniard,  that  will  render  a  resort  to  war  necessary  for  the 
honor  of  the  country. 

The  country  now  feels  the  want  of  great  executive  talent  at  the 
head  of  our  Government,  in  the  person  of  some  citizen  who,  like 
General  Jackson,  will  look  to  the  interest  of  the  Republic.  It 
is  sick  of  mousingpoliticians  who  are  constantly  engaged  in  count 
ing  the  chances  of  political  success  in  the  several  state  elections. 

Did  not  the  country  applaud  the  act  of  Capt.  Ingraham 
in  fearlessly  withholding  Kotza  from  the  Austrian?  And  yet 
Kotza  was  only  technically  a  citizen  of  our  country.  But  Purser 
Smith  was  "to  the  manor  lorn"  with  all  the  ties  that  bind  a  man 
to  his  home,  and  all  the  claims  of  a  good  citizen  for  protection 
from  the  Government  of  his  country ;  and  yet  this  man's  rights 
were  wantonly  assailed  to  please  a  petty  tyrant  in  Cuba — and  he 
would  have  been  proscribed  by  our  Government,  at  the  instance 
of  this  Spanish  official,  had  not  a  generous-hearted,  brave  man, 
risked  his  fortune  to  protect  him,  and  vindicate  the  rights  of  a 
citizen. 

Was  not  this  act  of  George  Law  equal  in  patriotism  and  true 
American  spirit  to  that  of  Capt.  Ingraham — and  is  not  Purser 
Smith  the  American,  as  much  entitled  to  our  national,  protection 
as  Kotza,  the  Austrian? 

What  adds  greatly  to  the  interest  of  this  bold  act  is,  that  it 
was  done  by  a  private  citizen,  with  no  wish  or  desire  to  win 
popularity  or  secure  praise.  It  was  the  offspring  of  a  clear  sense 
of  right,  and  a  determination  not  to  permit  a  man  in  his 
employment  to  suffer  wrong,  or  the  character  of  our  country 
to  be  soiled  by  the  weakness  of  our  administration. 

Such  acts  as  these  prove  more  satisfactorily  to  the  minds  of 
active,  intelligent,  business  men,  the  fitness  of  an  individual  for 
great  executive  trusts,  than  all  the  vaunted  qualities  of  statesman 
ship,  said  to  be  possessed  by  the  late  and  present  administrations. 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW. 


85 


The  truth  is,  George  Law  is  a  strong-minded,  well-read  man, 
possessed  of  superior  judgment,-  great  moral  courage,  and  a 
peculiar  talent  for  executive  action.  He  is  popular,  because 
he  reflects  the  bold  energy  and  unconquerable  independence 
of  our  people,  who,  while  they  demand  nothing  but  what  is 
right,  will  not  tamely  submit  to  what  is  wrong. 
"A  little  more  Grape,  Captain  Bragg  1" 


SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IK 


LETTER  OF  GEORGE  LAW, 

OF    NEW    YORK, 

TO    THE 

LEGISLATURE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA, 

ON    THE 

PRESENT    CRISIS. 


NEW  YOKK,  Feb.  22,  1855. 

GENTLEMEN  : — I  have  received  the  letter  which  you  did  me 
the  honor  to  address  me  on  the  2d  inst.  From  my  early  man 
hood  I  have  been  principally  engaged  in  the  enterprises  and 
avocations  of  private  life  ;  these  enterprises,  however,  in  the 
opinion  of  many,  have  had  a  very  important  bearing  upon  the  inte 
rests  and  progress  of  this  great  country.  During  that  period  of 
time  I  have  paid  no  more  attention  to,  and  taken  no  further  inte 
rest  in,  the  affairs  of  the  Republic  than  what  every  good  citizen 
or  lover  of  his  country  takes  when  quietly  putting  his  vote  into 
the  ballot-box.  I  was  therefore  startled  in  a  considerable 
degree  from  my  quiet  mode  of  life  by  the  reception  of  a  very 
important  letter  dated  at  Harrisbnrgh,  signed  by  the  Speaker 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  87 

•  '  > 

of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  several  Senators  and  other  members  of  the  Legislature,  pro 
pounding  inquiries  of  a  leading  political  character  in  reference 
to  the  present  state  of  public  affairs,  and  the  future  action  of 
the  American  people.  The  honor  and  the  compliment  combined 
of  having  received  a  letter  from  such  a  high  quarter,  asking  for 
my  humble  opinion  in  the  present  crisis  of  our  land,  are  quite 
sufficient  to  satisfy  my  ambition  if  it  terminated  with  the  soli 
tary  act  of  making  this  reply.  With  these  impressions  on  my 
mind,  I  almost  hesitate  to  venture  upon  the  public  path  to  whicli 
your  letter  invites  me  with  so  much  magnanimity,  confidence  and 
good  feeling. 

We  have  arrived  at  a  very  important  crisis  in  the  history  of 
this  Republic.  Parties,  principles  and  men — statesmen  and  poli 
ticians,  all  seemed  to  be  in  a  rapid  state  of  decomposition,  transi 
tion  and  reconstruction.  Indeed,  the  same  aspect  of  confusion 
and  discord  in  the  public  affairs  and  public  parties  which  afflict 
this  country,  seems  to  be  a  common  disorder  or  epidemic  over 
the  whole  earth.  Europe  is  laboring  in  the  same  condition. 
What  is  it  ?  It  is  the  close  of  one  great  cycle  of  revolution  and 
the  beginning  of  another  in  the  world's  civilization.  Even  Asia 
that  mysterious  country,  with  which  steam  is  linking  us,  is  filled 
with  confusion,  war,  disorder  and  revolutions.  Happily,  how 
ever,  for  this  country,  we  are  possessed  of  too  much  religion, 
intelligence,  and  common  sense  to  cut  each  other's  throats,  in 
order  to  settle  differences  in  religious  questions  or  politics.  By 
our  firesides  we  form  our  opinion  of  what  is  necessary  to  be 
done,  settle  upon  common  principles,  organize  into  parties,  and 
go  quietly  to  the  ballot-box,  and  there  determine,  like  practical 
men  and  civilized  beings,  every  knotty  question  of  the  day. 

From  the  first  gun  of  the  Revolution  down  to  the  present 
day,  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  passed  through  three 
terms  of  political  existence,  all  allied  to  each  other  in  general 


88  SKETCH    OF    EVENTS    IN 

character  but  differing  in  practical  results.  The  great  revolu 
tionary  period  ended  with  the  establishment  of  the  Union,  the 
formation  of  the  Constitution  in  1181,  and  the  dignified  retire 
ment  of  Washington  from  office  with  all  the  honor  that  the 
American  people  could  confer  upon  him — their  gratitude  and 
affection.  The  second  period  of  our  political  history,  beginning 
with  the  establishment  of  the  republican  party,  under  the  man 
tles  of  Jefferson  and  Madison,  also  great  and  leading  statesmen 
of  their  age,  ended  with  the  close  of  Mr.  Munroe's  administration. 
During  that  era,  great  questions  of  foreign  and  domestic  policy 
were  settled.  The  third  period  began  with  the  election  of  Gen. 
Jackson,  and  closed  with  the  settlement  of  many  important 
political  issues  during  his  administration.  The  contests  of  the 
democratic  and  whig  parties,  now  closing  in  the  degeneracy  and 
confusion  of  all  parties,  creates  the  necessity  for  some  new  party 
growing  out  of  the  state  of  the  times,  in  order  to  renovate  and 
refresh  the  country  and  the  age.  The  distinguished  men  of  each 
of  these  three  periods  have  passed  away,  but  the  recollections 
of  their  services  to  the  country  still  exist.  The  most  recent  of 
our  great  statesmen — Calhoun,  Clay,  and  Webster,  with  some 
of  their  contemporaries — have  left  us  rich  legacies  in  principles, 
from  which  new  departures  may  be  taken  by  those  who  have 
intelligence  enough  to  drink  at  the  proper  fountain. 

But  although  nearly  all  the  issues  of  former  party  contests 
have  been  settled  or  died  away,  yet  every  age  has  its  new 
issues  and  fresh  difficulties  for  parties  and  statesmen  to  discuss, 
encounter  and  arrange.  During  the  last  few  years  the  original 
virtue  and  purity  of  the  two  great  political  parties  which  have 
contended  for  the  mastery,  have  nearly  departed  ;  both  have 
degenerated  and  disgraced  the  nation  in  many  important  parti 
culars.  This  corrupt  state  of  things  had  been  predicted  by  some 
of  our  most  eminent  statesmen.  The  period  has  now  arrived 
when,  from  the  exigency  of  the  times,  and  guided  by  the  lights 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  89 

of  the  Constitution,  the  people  of  this  country  are  preparing  for 
a  change  and  a  re-organization  of  the  present  elements  of  repub 
lican  government.  This  wish  and  determination  on  the  part  of 
the  American  people  has  disclosed  itself  in  the  recent  elections 
in  different  portions  of  the  country  in  a  manner  not  to  be  misun 
derstood,  in  the  North,  South,  East  and  West.  These  results  are 
the  beginning  of  the  developments  of  a  manly  national  spirit, 
crude  and  anomalous  at  first,  but  destined,  under  the  guidance 
of  common  sense,  to  raise  the  country  from  those  mires  of  cor 
ruption  into  which  it  has  fallen,  by  the  mismanagement  of  politi 
cal  leaders. 

One  of  the  most  dangerous  evils  which  has  grown  out  of  the 
degeneracy  of  the  old  parties,  is  that  of  sectional  agitation. 
Sectional  agitation  is  the  great  danger  that  menaces  the  Ameri 
can  republic.  It  is  the  weak  point  of  the  Union.  The  sacred 
tie  of  marriage  cannot  subsist  in  private  life  without  confidence 
in  the  virtue  of  the  parties  united  ;  neither  can  this  Union  exist 
under  the  dishonorable  and  malignant  sectional  agitations  which 
have  been  forced  upon  us  in  these  latter  days  by  small  sections 
of  politicians  who  sink  into  insignificance  before  the  great  his 
torical  names  of  our  country.  Sectional  agitation  is  not  only 
our  weakest  point  at  home,  but  it  invites  the  interference  of  our 
enemies  abroad. 

The  negligence  and  inefficiency  with  which  the  public  affairs 
of  this  country,  both  foreign  and  domestic,  have  been  conducted  - 
by  those  in  power,  whether  Democratic  or  Whig,  for  the  last 
few  years,  have  attracted  the  attention  of  all  sensible  men,  and 
created  in  the  minds  of  the  people  the  necessity  of  a  radical 
reform.  Our  system  of  indirect  taxation,  commonly  called  a 
tariff  on  imports,  has  been  established  and  framed  for  the  pur 
pose  simply  of  supplying  the  annual  wants  of  the  government, 
and  for  giving  indirect  protection  to  our  manufactures.  This 
system  of  taxation  has  proved  to  be  of  such  a  nature  in  practice 


90  SKETCH     OF     EY.KNTS     Itf 

as  to  create  dangerous  surpluses  of  millions  of  gold  aiid  silver 
in  the  Treasury,  thereby  deranging  the  currency,  throwing 
exchanges  into  confusion,  and  bringing  bankruptcy  and  ruin 
upon  every  branch  of  business.  The  politicians  and  statesmen 
(if  they  may  deserve  the  name)  of  the  two  old  parties  have  been 
too  busily  engaged  in  schemes  of  personal  aggrandizement  to 
arrange  this  important  financial  question  on  such  principles  as 
would  simply  answer  the  wants  of  the  government  and  the  inter 
ests  of  the  country.  It  is  time,  therefore,  to  turn  a  short  corner 
on  these  points  of  policy,  and  to  contrive  suitable  legislation, 
not  for  the  purpose  of  spoils  for  themselves  or  dependents,  but 
for  the  benefit  and  advantage  of  the  whole  country. 

This  system  requires  immediate  reconstruction  upon  the 
highest  principles  of  patriotism  and  common  sense,  in  order  to 
secure  the  country  from  the  frequent  convulsions  and  periods  of 
bankruptcy  which  have  occurred  during  the  last  three  or  four 
administrations.  Our  treasury  and  financial  system  requires 
examination  and  amendment  in  all  its  details,  and  in  the  special 
working  of  its  machinery. 

Our  land  system  has  also  been  equally  in  error,  and  thrown 
into  a  state  of  confusion  by  private  and  personal  schemes  to  get 
possession  of  the  finest  portion  of  that  noble  inheritance  left  us 
by  our  ancestors. 

Not  only  does  the  internal  policy  of  the  general  government 
require  the  magic  hand  of  statesmen  adequate  to  the  age,  but  our 
foreign  policy  (if  it  can  be  said  that  we  have  any)  demands,  in 
an  eminent  degree,  the  attention  of  the  highest  intellect,  in  order 
to  recover  it  from  the  state  of  degradation  into  which  it  has 
fallen.  The  truth  is,  the  framework  of  our  parties  and  our 
government,  bas  felt  the  deleterious  influence  of  the  times,  has 
fallen  into  disorder  and  wants  repair,  renovation  or  revolution. 

This  country  was  originally  settled  by  emigration  from  the 
Old  World  The  revolutions  and  consequent  persecutions  of 


THE     LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  91 

the  sixteenth  century  drove  the  first  settlers  from  their  homes  in 
the  Old  World,  to  seek  civil  and  religious  freedom  in  the  wilds 
of  the  New.  The  Puritans  who  landed  at  Plymouth  Rock — 
the  Lutherans  who  settled  on  Manhattan  Island — the  Catholics 
who  sought  an  asylum  on  the  .shores  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay — 
the  Cavaliers  who  landed  at  James  River,  Virginia,  and  the 
Huguenots  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina — were  all  pilgrims 
forced  by  the  same  persecutions  and  revolutions  from  the  Old 
World,  to  seek  a  home  in  the  New,  for  the  exercise  and  enjoy 
ment  of  political  rights  and  freedom,  regulated  by  morality  and 
religion.  In  leaving  the  Old  World  and  their  old  homes,  they 
eft  the  prejudices  and  passions  of  that  land,  and  brought  with 
them  to  this  new  clime  only  the  ideas  and  principles  to  which 
that  great  revolutionary  age  gave  birth.  From  their  first  land 
ing  a  new  society  and  a  new  civilization  took  deep  root  in  the 
land,  and  generated  the  revolution  of  the  last  century,  ending  in 
the  establishment  of  the  present  Republic.  We  then  became  a 
country  and  a  polity  of  a  new  growth,  which  may  be  fitly  called 
American  in  every  sense  of  the  term. 

In  constructing  the  present  Constitution,  the  framers  of  that 
great  instrument,  remembering  the  origin  of  their  ancestors,  left  a 
memorial  of  their  sympathy  for  all  the  oppressed  in  the  Old 
World,  by  authorizing  Congress  to  pass  naturalization  laws  of  a 
liberal  and  generous  tendency.  r  But  while  inserting  such  a 
generous  provision  in  the  Constitution  as  would  admit,  on  brief 
periods  of  probation,  the  oppressed  of  other  countries  to  the  pri 
vileges  of  this  land,  it  was  expected  and  believed  that  all  eon- 
grants  thereafter  admitted  would  follow  the  example  of  the  first 
pilgrims  by  abandoning  the  prejudices  and  passions  of  the  Old 
World,  and  become  merged  in  the  great  body  of  the  new  Ameri 
can  civilization.  This  great  principle,  with  such  an  understand 
ing,  has  been  carried  out  for  two  centuries,  and  it  is  only  of 


92  SKETCH     OF     EVEXTS     IN 

recent  date,  that  corrupt  men  and  mere  demagogues  have  endea 
vored  to  band  together  citizens  of  foreign  birth,  according  to 
their  national  or  religious  creeds,  thus  preventing  them  from  fol 
lowing  the  noble  example  of  the  first  pilgrims,  by  mixing  with 
American  citizens,  and  blending  themselves  with  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  new  dispensation.  All  religions  and  all 
sects  of  Christians  are  alike  protected  under  the  aegis  of  the 
American  Constitution.  But  when  the  highest  clergy  of  any 
sect  attempts  either  to  monopolize  the  political  power  of  their 
flocks  or  the  pecuniary  means  of  their  congregations,  it  is  time 
for  the  people  of  this  country  to  take  warning  by  the  terrible 
examples  such  clerical  usurpations  have  produced  in  other  lauds 
and  in  other  times. 

In  this  important  point  of  reform,  there  have  been  strong 
manifestations  of  late  in  different  parts  of  the  country  Ten 
years  ago  efforts  began. to  be  made  to  correct  the  errors  and 
purify  the  corruptions  of  the  two  old  parties,  and  to  give  a  high 
tone,  American  and  national  feeling  to  the  action  of  a  new  and 
energetic  organization  of  the  popular  masses.  The  effort,  origi 
nating  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  and  radiating  to  various 
States  within  the  circle  of  their  influence  and  example,  was,  after 
a  brief  struggle,  overwhelmed  by  the  corrupt  politicians  and  the 
concentrated  exertions  of  the  two  opposing  parties.  But  the 
evils  of  that  time,  and  the  ^necessity  of  reform,  have  grown 
with  our  growth,  and  strengthened  with  our  strength,  until 
Americans  can  stand  no  longer  in  silence  and  see  their 
country  disorganized  and  disgraced  by  the  corrupt  and  demoral 
izing  spoils  system,  enforced  by  a  degenerate  race  of  men. 
During  the  last  year  the  American  people  have  been  waking 
from  a  deep  sleep.  They  are  bursting  on  all  hands,  and  in  every 
quarter,  the  manacles  with  which  noble  intellects  and  free  minds 
were  bound,  and  no  doubt  seems  to  exist,  from  the  progress  with 


THE     LI£E     OF     GKORGJS     LAW.  93 

which  the  uew  revolution  has  advanced,  that  it  will  end  in  as 
glorious  a  triumph  as  that  set  in  motion  by  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  itself. 

This  great  movement  has  done  my  heart  good,  and  it  will 
spread  the  same  sentiment  throughout  the  country,  to  see  the 
noble  State  of  Pennsylvania  taking  one  of  the  first  great  steps 
towards  a  consummation  of  that  revolution  to  which  American 
sentiment  and  American  patriotism  points  so  clearly.  In  the 
old  Revolution,  your  noble  State,  marching  under  the  command 
of  the  immortal  Washington,  rallied  under  the  motto  of  "  Yirtue, 
Liberty  and  Independence,"  the  same  sentiment,  I  have  no  doubt, 
will  animate  your  present  struggle,  until  victory  is  proclamed 
from  the  sources  of  the  Susquehanna  to  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific, 

I  am,  Gentlemen, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

GrEORGE  LAW 
To  the  Honorable 

HENRY  K.  STRONG, 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
Harrisburg, 

Penn. 

And  the  Honorables 

William  A.  Crab,    John  Ferguson, )  genators 
John  W.  Kellinger,  John  Hendricks,  f 

Alex.  McConnell,  John  J.  Muse,  Geo. )        Members 
S.  King,  C.  S.  Eyster,  B.  G.  Water-  (  of  the  House  of 
house,  Sa.,  J.  Krepps,  Sam.  B.  Page. )  Representatives. 
And  many  others. 


94  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS  •  IN 


From  the  New  York  Evening  Mirror,  August  Sdt  1855. 

GEORGE  LAW. 


IT  is  a  novelty  in  our  day  of  universal  triumph  of  soldiers,  lawyers,  and  professional 
politicians,  in  securing  to  themselves  all  public  offices,  honors  and  emoluments,  to  see  a 
respectable  portion  of  the  American  masses,  through  legislative  and  other  representa 
tives,  call  out,  with  a  view  to  the  Presidency,  a  working  man,  a  man  of  the  people — such 
a  man  as  George  Law,  whose  claims  to  public  regard  are  based  solely  on  his  practical 
intelligence,  enterprise,  moral  worth,  and  the  long  and  eminent  service  he  has  unostenta 
tiously  rendered  the  country.  That  George  Law  has  been  thus  called  out,  is  a  hopeful 
sign  that  the  American  people  have  come,  or  are  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  the  best 
men  to  administer  public  affairs  are  those  who  best  administer  their  own.  It  is  an  old 
and  true  saying  that  "  he  who  best  governs  himself,  is  fittest  to  govern  others,"  and  the 
maxim  is  equally  true  applied  to  the  conduct  of  all  human  concerns. 

George  Law  is  not  fifty  years  old,  yet  there  is  no  other  man  in  this  Union,  who  can 
point  to  BO  many  great  works,  of  public  utility,  as  he  has  conceived  and  executed — in 
every  case  successfully.  Some  of  his  enterprises  have  been  of  national  magnitude ;  for 
instance,  his  Ocean  Steamers,  connecting  San  Francisco  and  the  gold  region  with  New 
York,  and  the  Panama  Railroad,  linking  the  two  great  oceans,  and  securing  to  Ameri 
cans  the  trade  of  the  North  Pacific,  which  otherwise  (like  that  of  the  South  Pacific)  would 
have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  British  capital.  At  the  complimentary  dinner  given,  by  our 
leading  merchants  and  citizens — and  responded  to  by  distinguished  men  of  all  parts  of 
the  Union — to  George  Law,  at  the  Astor  House,  in  1852,  the  late  lamented  John  L.  Stephens, 
then  President  of  the  Panama  Road  said : 

"  He  could  tell  them  (the  dinner  assemblage),  of  the  almost  insuperable  difficulties 
encountered  there  (at  the  Isthmus),  and  here  (in  New  York),  but  the  greatest  difficulty 
they  had  to  encounter,  was  the  sin  of  unbelief.  But,  when  all  others  despaired,  their  friend 
George  Law  put  his  shoulder  to  the  wheel,  and  the  work  was  done — and  he  was  happy  to 
say,  that  this  day  (the  day  of  the  dinner),  the  contract  for  the  completion  of  the  Panama 
Railroad  was  signed,  and  its  fulfillment  was  guaranteed  by  George  Law." 

We  think  no  one  will  question  that  George  Law  has  no  compeer  in  the  number,  scope, 
practical  character  and  public  utility  of  the  enterprises  he  has  executed.  Certainly,  no 
one  will  pretend  that  any  other  living  American  has,  by  force  of  his  own  unaided  judg 
ment  and  genius,  accomplished  the  half  that  Mr.  Law  has  done.  The  public  works  of  at 
least  five  great  States  speak  for  him,  and  the  single  monument  of  his  bold  judgment  and 


THE    LIFE     OF     GEORGE     LAW.  95 

consummate  skill,  the  High  Bridge,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct,  which 
pours  perpetual  blessing  in  all  our  homes,  would,  In  olden  times,  have  secured  him  a 
public  statue,  and  a  niche  in  the  national  pantheon.  Yet,  while  for  twenty  years  George 
Law  has  been  working  out  some  of  our  noblest  public  internal  improvements,  and  shorten 
ing  the  paths  and  widening  the  field  of  our  ocean  commerce — giving  direct  employment 
to  tens  of  thousands,  opening  the  way  to  employment  for  hundreds  of  thousands,  and 
adding  to  the  wealth-making  facilities  and  prosperity  of  the  whole  country,  the  people  at 
large  have  known  but  little  of  the  real  man — of  the  extent  and  diversity  of  his  know 
ledge,  the  comprehensiveness  of  his  intellect,  his  remarkable  powers  of  combination,  hia 
clear  judgment  of  men  and  things,  his  intuition  serving  him  where  lesson  and  example 
were  insufficient,  and  the  earnest,  patriotic  spirit,  and  love  of  Justice  and  right,  which 
have  indelibly  marked  hia  whole  career. 

Many  have  seen  in  George  Law  but  an  avaricious  money  getter ;  an  ignorant  specu 
lator,  shrewd  only  in  jockeying  and  trading,  and  a  vulgar  seeker  for  notoriety.  Such 
judges  know  nothing  truly  of  the  man.  We  venture  to  say — what  will  doubtless  be  dis 
cussed  by  the  public  before  long— that  Mr.  Law's  life,  business  and  social,  are  without 
stain.  That  he  never  has  prosecuted  an  enterprise  by  any  dishonorable  means,  and 
never  looked  to  the  money  profit  of  his  labors  as  hia  highest  reward.  We  could  point  to 
many  schemes  proposed  to  him  for  money-making,  which  he  has  rejected  because  they 
lacked  public  utility.  He  never  loaned  a  dollar  at  usurious  interest,  and  never  shaved 
a  note  or  a  bond.  He  never  turned  his  back  on  a  friend,  because  the  friendship  was 
expensive  to  him  in  money.  He  never  refused  to  aid  any  deserving  person  or  object, 
where  it  lay  in  his  power.  Nor  did  he  ever  lie  awake  nights  recounting  his  fortune.  That 
noble  act  of  his,  in  defence  of  Purser  Smith,  and  the  honor  and  interests  of  our  country 
against  Spanish  insolence,  was  done  by  assuming  the  entire  risk  of  an  ocean  steamer 
and  its  freight — insurance  and  the  countenance_of  our  Government  having  been  with 
drawn  from  this  United  States  mail  steamer — more  than  a  million  dollars  ;  an  act,  we 
venture  to  say,  no  other  twenty  men  in  this  Union  combined  would  have  done  at  the 
same  personal  risk,  from  simple  motives  of  patriotism  and  a  determination  to  stand  by 
the  right.  Avaricious  men  don't  do  such  things.  So  of  the  thousands  he  spent  volun 
tarily  in  the  capture  of  Baker,  with  the  Grapeshot,  after  the  fugitive  had  snapped  hia  ftn- 
gers  with  impunity  at  municipal  and  federal  authorities— with  their  old  water-logged 
naval  craft. 

George  Law's  judgment  in  the  choice  of  enterprises,  with  his  simple,  perfect  system  of 
doing  business,  and  his  remarkable  executive  power,  have  made  all  his  labors  profitable, 
for  himself  and  all  concerned,  as  an  inevitable  result.  As  to  his  being  ignorant,  since 
his  schoolboy  days  up  in  Washington  County  (New  York),  where  he  was  born,  an  honest, 
humble  farmer's  son,  we  doubt  if  any  man  can  be  pointed  out  of  his  age,  who  has  more 
closely  and  practically  studied,  in  and  out  of  books,  or  treasured  up  more  valuable  know 
ledge  of  men,  of  all  times  and  in  all  their  relations,  and  of  governments,  ancient  and 
modern,  or  of  the  practical  arts  and  sciences,  than  George  Law.  This  is  saying  a  good 
deal,  but  George  Law  has  been  from  the  beginning  a  reader,  an  observer  and  a  thinker. 
He  may  not  know  Latin  and  Greek — Washington  knew  no  language  but  the  English,  and 
owed  more  to  his  intuition  and  experience  than  to  books  or  schools.  Such  men  as 
George  Law  are  born  organizers  and  executants.  It  is  given  to  them  to  surpass  old 
routine,  by  higher  and  better  ideas  of  arrangement  and  application.  They  are  gifted 


96  SKETCH     OF     EVENTS     IK 

with  a  genius  not  for  formal,  clerkly  pursuits,  but  to  organize  and  direct  enterprises  of 
which  mere  schoolmen  are  only  competent  to  work  out  the  details — and  to  lead  and 
govern  men.  Mr.  Law's  great  enterprises  are,  in  themselves,  successfully  carried  out  aa 
they  have  been  against  powerful  opposing  combinations,  indisputable  evidence  of  his 
extraordinary  practical  intelligence  and  executive  ability — and  practical  intelligence  is 
the  kind  to  which  the  American  people,  and  this  age,  owe  their  greatest  triumphs. 

Such  a  man  as  George  Law,  in  the  Presidential  chair,  would  carry  into  the  govern 
ment,  on  a  commensurate  scale,  the  same  principles  that  ensure  success  in  private  busi 
ness — the  same  spirit  that  prevails  in  honestly-conducted  private  affairs.  It  is  almost 
too  much  to  hope,  that  our  government  will  ever  be  placed  on  a  common-sense  basis — 
its  public  service  being  done  as  efficiently  and  economically  as  private  enterprise  is  con 
ducted  ;  all  its  servants  being  selected  for  their  fitness  for  place,  and  all  held  as  respon 
sible  as  in  private  business ;  and  all  the  domestic  and  foreign  relations  of  tho  country 
reduced  to  the  directness  and  simplicity  that  govern  in  honest  individual]  transactions. 
Yet,  the  people  have  been  so  misgoverned  and  plundered,  that  they  are  disposed  to  look 
to  practical  rather  than  professional  men,  to  fill  their  high  places. 

This  feeling  is  the  cause  of  the  interest  centered  in  George  Law.  Those  who  know  him 
best,  regard  him  as  possessing,  in  a  larger  degree  than  any  other  man  before  the  country, 
the  great  elements  of  comprehensive  intellect,  large  and  varied  practical  knowledge, 
sound  judgment,  patriotic  instincts,  and  executive  ability  that  should  distinguish  a  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States.  They  believe  he  would  organize  and  develop  the  government 
to  as  high  a  degree,  for  the  prosperity  of  the  country,  as  he  has  done  for  himself  and  the 
public  in  an  individual  sphere.  Whether  or  not,  they  will  be  gratified  in  having  the  man 
of  their  choice  elevated  to  the  Presidency,  is  not  for  us  to  say.  It  would  be  a  great  step 
upward  and  forward,  to  go  from  a  General  Pierce  to  a  George  Law ;  possibly  the  legs  of 
the  American  party  are  not  long  and  strong  enough  to  tempt  the  breach,  but  if  they 
should,  a  rush  of  the  people  may  be  expected  in  support  of  "  Live  Oak"  George. 

It  is  greatly  in  Mr.  Law's  favor  that  he  is'  not,  and  never  has  been,  mixed  up  in 
party  politics.  He  has  kept  track  of  politics,  and  aloof  from  politicians.  His  character 
and  antecedents  can  hardly  fail,  when  truly  known,  to  be  popular  with  the  masses.  The 
fact  that  he  has  risen  to  fortune  and  eminence  from  the  ranks,  without  any  advantages 
save  those  common  to  American  youth,  thus  illustrating  the  noble  influence  of  our  repub 
lican  form  of  government  and  institutions,  will  go  far  to  recommend  him  to  the  people  at 
large.  The  commercial,  mechanic,  farming  and  working  classes,  would  have  in  him  a 
powerful  representative.  The  politicians  would  have  nothing  to  hope  from  him  but  being 
kicked  from  the  crib  where  they  have  been  fattening  on  public  plunder  for  years.  Fac- 
tionists  and  fanatics  would  fare  no  better— for  Mr.  Law  is  a  National  man,  and  a  Union 
man,  aa  he  is  a  flat-footed,  square-toed  American,  to  the  core.  The  history  of  such  a  man 
ought  to  be  minutely  and  generally  known,  if  but  for  example  and  stimulus  to  the  young 
men  of  America,  and  it  doubtless  Will  be  soon,  as  we  understand  that  the  enterprising 
publisher,  J.  0.  Derby,  is  about  to  issue  his  prospectus  of  a  forthcoming,  complete  biogra 
phy  of  (Jeorge  Law. 


J.    C.    r^KBYrf    prBLICATIONS. 


EXTE  A  ORDINARY     PUBLICATION! 


MY    COURTSHIP   AND    ITS    CONSEQUENCES. 

BY  HENKY    WIN  OFF. 

A.  true  account  of  the  Author's  Adventures  in  England,  Switzerland,  and 
Italy,  with  Miss  J.  C.  Gamble,  of  Portland  Place,  London.  1  eleg-ant 
12rao.  Price,  hi  cloth.  SI  25. 

The  extraordinary  sensation  produced  in  literary  circles  by  Mr.  Wikoff  's  charming 
romance  of  real  life,  is  exhausting  edition  after  edition  of  his  wonderful  book.  From 
lengthy  reviews,  among  several  hundred  received,  we  extract  the  following  brief  notices 
of  the  pre.v' : 

"  We  prefer  commending  the  book  as  beyond  question  the  most  amusing  of  the  season, 
and  we  commend  it  without  hesitation,  because  the  moral  is  an  excellent  one." — Albion. 

"  With  unparalleled  candor  he  has  here  unfolded  the  particulars  of  the  intrigue,  taking 
the  whole  world  into  his  confidence — 'bearing  his  heart  on  his  sleeve  for  daws  to  peck 
sit' — and,  in  the  dearth  of  public  amusements,  presenting  s.  piqnant  nine  days'  wonder 
for  the  recreation  of  society." — JV".  Y.  Tribune. 

"The  work  is  very  amusing,  and  it  is  written  iu  such  a  vein  that  one  cannot  refrain 
from  frequent  bursts  of  laughter,  even  when  the  Chevalier  is  in  positions  which  might 
claim  one's  sympathy." — Boston  Evening  Gazette. 

"  A  positive  autobiography,  by  a  man  of  acknowledged  fashion,  and  an  associate  of 
nobles  and  princes,  telling  truly  how  he  courted  and  was  coquetted  by  an  heiress  in  high 
life,  is  likely  to  be  as  popular  a  singularity  in  the  way  of  literature  as  could  well  be  thought 
of." — Home  Journal. 

"The  ladies  are  sure  to  devour  it.  It  is  better  and  more  exciting  than  any  modern 
romance,  as  it  is  a  detail  of  facts,  and  every  page  proves  conclusively  that  the  plain, 
unvarnished  tale  of  truth  is  often  stranger  than  fiction." — Baltimore  Dispatch. 

"  The  book,  therefore,  has  all  the  attractions  of  a  tilt  of  k nigh t-errants— with  this  addi 
tion,  that  one  of  the  combatants  is  a  woman — a  species  of  heart-endowed  Amazon."— 
X~eicar7c  Daily  Mercury. 

"If  you  read  the  first  chapter  of  the  volume,  you  are  in  for  'finis,'  and  can  no  more 
stop  without  the  consent  of  your  will  tlian  the  train  of  cars  can  stop  without  the  consent 
of  the  engine."—  Worcester  Palladium. 

"  Seriously,  there  is  not  so  original,  piquant  and  singular  a  book  hi  American  literature : 
its  author  is  a  sort  of  cross  between  Fielding,  Chesterfield,  and  Rochefoucault." — Boston 
Chronicle. 

"  With  the  exception  of  Ro'seau's  Confessions,  we  do  not  remember  ever  to  have  heard 
<>f  any  such  self-anatomization  of  love  and  the  lover."— N.  Y.  Express. 

"The  book  has  cost  us  a  couple  of  nights'  sleep;  and  we  have  no  doubt  it  has  cost  its 
author  and  principal  subject  a  good  many  more." — N.  Y.  Evening  Mirror. 

"  The  work  possesses  all  the  charm  and  fascination  of  a  continuous  romance." — N".  Y. 
Journal  of  Comnicrc-r. 
12 


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THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


